Spark Commodities reported a further drop in its Pacific LNG freight rates, while the Atlantic rates declined as well this week.
“LNG freight on the Pacific Spark25S route dropped to reach $46,750/day today, its lowest since since August 2022, with less being paid for ballast bonuses as owners are paid to the nearest hub rather than load port,” Spark said on Tuesday.
“This drop has brought the $5,500/day spread between rates in the Pacific and on the Atlantic Spark30S route to the narrowest since December 2022,” it said.
The Pacific rates for 160,000-cbm TFDE carriers declined from $50,250 per day to $46,750 per day, while the Atlantic rates dropped from $42,000 per day to $41,250 per day on Tuesday.
Spark reported on April 20 a further drop in its Pacific LNG spot freight rates to $55,250 per day, while the Atlantic rate were at $43,500 per day.
Both the Atlantic and Pacific rates for 160,000-cbm TFDE carriers fell below $100,000 per day in January, following record highs in October and November last year.
Last week, the SparkNWE DES LNG front month fell below $10 per MMBtu on growing European storage levels, however the forward curve showed winter prices still remain above $17 per MMBtu, according to the firm.
Platts reported on May 8 that low demand has also dragged Asian LNG prices to the lowest level in two years.
It assessed the JKM for June at $9.882 per MMBtu on May 5.
