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Spark’s data lead, Qasim Afghan, told LNG Prime on Friday that Spark30S (Atlantic) LNG freight rates rose to new year-to-date highs this week, increasing by $14,750 compared to the last week, the highest Atlantic rate since July 2024.
Similarly, Spark25S (Pacific) rates rose by $17,500 to $62,000 per day, the highest Pacific rates since October 2024 and the largest week-on-week increase since September 2023, according to Afghan.
“Atlantic spot momentum remains firm, with freight rates hitting new year-to-date highs and six-figure fixtures no longer out of the question. Additional prompt WAF and USG requirements in late December continue to lend rate support, while producer-marketed volumes face challenges securing modern tonnage due to long-laden legs and limited portfolio length,” Fearnley LNG said in its weekly LNG report.
The Oslo-based advisory and brokering firm said that “still, caution is warranted.”
“December redeliveries and gradually emerging availability may ease the tightness, and mild winter forecasts across key importing regions are tempering expectations for weather-driven upside,” it said.
“In the Pacific, rates for both 2-strokes and TFDEs continue to trail the Atlantic, maintaining a notable regional gap. The 2-stroke premium is widening further, as demand for larger vessels is strongest West of Suez,” Fearnley LNG said.
European prices down
In Europe, the SparkNWE DES LNG dropped compared to last week.
“The SparkNWE DES LNG front-month price for December dropped by $0.264 to $9.865/MMBtu this week, the lowest NW-Europe DES LNG price since April,” Afghan said.
Additionaly, he said that the basis to the TTF “stayed relatively flat this week, assessed at -$0.525/MMBtu.”
“Despite briefly opening up to Asia on Wednesday, the US front.month arb (via the Cape) has once again closed and is marginally pointing to Europe instead of Asia, with the latest price assessment at -$0.069/MMBtu,” Afghan said.
“The US front-month arb via Panama has remained open, pricing in at $0.215/MMBtu,” he said.
Data by Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) shows that volumes in gas storages in the EU dropped from last week and were 82.23 percent full on November 12, 2025.
Gas storages were 82.97 percent full on November 5, 2025, and 92.58 percent full on November 12, 2024.
JKM
In Asia, JKM, the price for LNG cargoes delivered to Northeast Asia in December 2025 settled at $11.130/MMBtu on Thursday.
Last week, JKM for December settled at 11.130/MMBtu on Friday, November 7.
Front-month JKM rose to 11.150/MMBtu on Monday. It dropped to 11.130/MMBtu on Tuesday and rose to 11.135/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 “remained almost unchanged at low-$11s/MMBtu on November 7 from low-$11s/MMBtu the previous weekend.”
“Although supply remained ample, the start of winter demand was sluggish and buying interest stayed limited. JKM posted small increases for three consecutive trading days from November 3 to 5 on the back of falling winter temperatures, but spot demand did not strengthen and the price turned downward on November 6, returning to the same level as the previous weekend,” Jogmec said.