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Spark’s data lead, Qasim Afghan, told LNG Prime on Friday that Spark30S (Atlantic) freight rates have “remained relatively steady this week, dropping by $250 to $19,500 per day, after significant increases seen last week.”
“February 2025 closed out as the lowest priced month on record for freight rates in the Atlantic basin, averaging $6,380 per day for 174 2-stroke vessels, and -$4,240 per day for 160 TFDE vessels,” he said.
In the Pacific, Spark25S rates continue to steadily increase, rising by $3,250 to $17,500 per day, Afghan said.
European prices continue to decrease
In Europe, the SparkNWE DES LNG dropped compared to 13.127/MMBtu last week.
“The SparkNWE DES LNG front month price for March decreased by $1.538 to $11.589/MMBtu as the TTF continues to drop – this is the lowest front month NWE LNG price in almost six months,” Afghan said.
He said the discount to the TTF “narrowed for a second week running, increasing by $0.05 to -$0.535/MMBtu, indicating that demand for LNG delivery slots in NW-Europe is beginning to wane.”
“The US arb to NE-Asia (via the Cape of Good Hope) for February narrowed for a sixth consecutive week, rising by $0.223 to -$0.074/MMBtu,” Afghan said.
“This is the narrowest front month US arb since Nov24, meaning that US cargos are no longer strongly incentivised to deliver to NWE instead of Asia, as has been the case for much of this winter,” he said.
Data by Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) shows that volumes in gas storages in the EU declined from last week and were 37.17 percent full on March 5.
Gas storages were 39.54 percent full on February 26, and 61.58 percent full on March 5, 2024.
JKM
In Asia, JKM, the price for LNG cargoes delivered to Northeast Asia in April 2025 settled at $13.690/MMBtu on Thursday.
Last week, JKM for April settled at 13.850/MMBtu on Friday, February 28.
Front-month JKM rose to 13.965/MMBtu on Monday, and it dropped to 13.830/MMBtu on Tuesday and 13.730/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 high-$13s on February 28 from low-$14s the previous weekend.”
“With modest rally on February 25, JKM was basically in a downtrend, until falling to the low $13s on February 27, against the backdrop of progress in peace talks over the war in Ukraine and weak demand in Asia. It then rebounded on February 28 on concerns of global supply due to lower gas storage levels in Europe, rising to the low $13s,” Jogmec said.
Europe has diverted “marginal” cargoes from Asia
Trading activity in the Asia LNG Platts Market on Close assessment process and the broader LNG futures market experienced a notable spike in February, driven by fluctuating price spreads and shifting market sentiment, according to Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Platts said in a report earlier this week that global LNG prices in recent months have been bolstered by strong demand in Europe following the cessation of Russian gas flows on January 1 after the expiry of the five-year Russia-Ukraine gas transit agreement.
To compensate for the lost Russian volumes, Europe has diverted marginal cargoes from Asia. In February, it imported approximately 6.82 million mt of US-sourced LNG, while the Northeast Asian region imported just 600,000 mt, data from S&P Global Commodity Insights showed.
Europe has also increasingly relied on its rapidly depleting gas storage, raising concerns among industry participants. The dwindling storage levels could become a significant issue as competition for spot LNG cargoes between the Pacific and Atlantic basins is expected to intensify during the summer months, when companies typically seek to replenish their inventories, Platts said.
Strong bidding activity in Asian market
According to Platts, the prolonged closed arbitrage to Asia in recent months spurred strong bidding activity in the Asian market, aiming to backfill spot cargoes that had been diverted to Europe. The physical MOC noted 191 bids for deliveries to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Thailand, and India, compared to 105 bids reported in January.
However, market sources observed an improvement in the arbitrage economics for US-sourced cargoes to Asia during the week ending Feb. 28, it said.
While global spot LNG prices fell, Asian spot LNG prices remained relatively robust compared to those in Northwest Europe, where prices have experienced a more significant decline, Platts said.
The price spread between the second-half April JKM and H2 March NWE prices shifted to positive territory, reaching $1.064/MMBtu on Feb. 28 from the negative spread of 80.3 cents/MMBtu on Feb. 3, Platts said.
This shift prompted traders to divert US-sourced cargoes to Asia to capture higher margins, Platts said citing market sources.