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Spark’s data lead, Qasim Afghan, told LNG Prime on Friday that global LNG freight rates rose again this week, with Spark30S (Atlantic) freight rates increasing by $6,250 to $25,750 per day.
He said this is the highest Atlantic rate in four months.
“In the Pacific, Spark25S (Pacific) rates continue to steadily increase, rising by $2,250 to $19,750 per day,” he said.
European prices climb
In Europe, the SparkNWE DES LNG rose compared to 11.589/MMBtu last week.
“On the back of the TTF rally seen earlier this week, the SparkNWE DES LNG front month price for March increased by $1.24 to $12.829/MMBtu, whilst the discount to the TTF widened by $0.025 to -$0.56/MMBtu,” Afghan said.
He said the “US arb to NE-Asia (via the Cape of Good Hope) widened for the first time in almost two months, dropping by $0.287 to -$0.361/MMBtu and incentivising US cargos to deliver to Europe.”
“The Nigerian front month arb to NE-Asia, which had opened up in recent weeks for the first time since December 24, has closed out again and is now pointing to Europe again, assessed at -$0.100/MMBtu,” Afghan said.
Data by Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) shows that volumes in gas storages in the EU declined from last week and were 35.89 percent full on March 12.
Gas storages were 37.17 percent full on March 5, and 60.07 percent full on March 12, 2024.
JKM
In Asia, JKM, the price for LNG cargoes delivered to Northeast Asia in April 2025 settled at $13.665/MMBtu on Thursday.
Last week, JKM for April settled at 13.760/MMBtu on Friday, March 7.
Front-month JKM rose to 13.765/MMBtu on Monday, and it dropped to 13.690/MMBtu on Tuesday and 13.685/MMBtu on Wednesday.
State-run Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (Jogmec) said in a report earlier this week that JKM for last week “fell to low-$12s on March 7 from high-$13s the previous weekend.”
“JKM was on a downward trend due to sluggish demand in Northeast Asia. On March 5, the price temporarily rose slightly from high-$2s to low-$13s due to increased purchasing interest from Southeast and South Asia, but fell back to low-$12s on March 7. In the coming weeks, buying demand from Southeast Asia and South Asia is expected in preparation for the summer season,” Jogmec said.
US LNG exports to Atlantic basin jump in February
Timera Energy said in a report on Thursday that the proportion of US LNG exports to the Atlantic Basin rose to a two-year high of 85 percent in February 2025, as Europe competed for marginal LNG with Asia amidst colder than normal temperatures.
US LNG flows contributed to record European import levels in January, and a widening of the DES Europe LNG to gas hub spread as regas utilisation increased, the consultancy said.
“Since mid-February, the European market has relaxed due to milder, windier weather, potential relaxation of storage mandates and swirling uncertainty around the future of Russian flows, reducing forward expectations of European imports (e.g. as reflected in the narrowing LNG to gas hub spread),” Timera Energy said.
“With summer approaching, competition for marginal US FOB cargoes will remain a key driver of global price spreads, particularly as uncertainty lingers over the scale of Europe’s storage injection needs,” the consultancy added.