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Spark’s data lead, Qasim Afghan, told LNG Prime on Friday that Spark30S (Atlantic) freight rates “have more than tripled this week, increasing by $13,500 to $19,750 per day, driven by the front month US arb to NE-Asia narrowing significantly over the past two weeks.”
“February 2025 is closing out as the lowest priced month on record for 174 2-stroke vessel freight rates, but this week’s rally has resulted in Spark30S rates now being at approximately similar levels to pre-2022 rates for this time of year,” he said.
In the Pacific, Spark25S (Pacific) rates increased by $3,500 to $14,250 per day, Afghan said.
European prices continue to drop
In Europe, the SparkNWE DES LNG dropped compared to $13.96/MMBtu last week.
“The SparkNWE DES LNG front month price for March dropped by $0.833 to $13.127/MMBtu as the TTF continues to drop,” Afghan said.
He said the discount to the TTF “narrowed for the first time in nine weeks, increasing by $0.035 to -$0.585/MMBtu, indicating that demand for LNG delivery slots in NW-Europe is steadying.”
“The US arb to NE-Asia (via the Cape of Good Hope) for February narrowed for a fifth consecutive week, rising by $0.205 to -$0.297/MMBtu,” Afghan said.
“This is the narrowest front month US arb since December 2024, meaning that the incentive for US cargoes to deliver to NWE instead of Asia has become much more marginal as compared to arb signals seen in the last two months,” he said.
Data by Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) shows that volumes in gas storages in the EU declined from last week and were 39.54 percent full on February 26.
Gas storages were 41.93 percent full on February 19, and 63.28 percent full on February 26, 2024.
JKM
In Asia, JKM, the price for LNG cargoes delivered to Northeast Asia in April 2025 settled at $13.490/MMBtu on Thursday.
Last week, JKM for April settled at 14.175/MMBtu on Friday, February 21.
Front-month JKM rose to 14.335/MMBtu on Monday, and it dropped to 13.855/MMBtu on Tuesday and 13.490/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 mid-$14s on February 21 (April delivery) from high-$14s the previous weekend.
“JKM was on a downtrend, falling below $14 on February 20 due to falling European gas prices and weak demand in Northeast Asia. Then, the price rebounded to mid-$14s, mainly due to buying orders from Taiwan and Thailand,” JOGMEC said.