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The world’s second-largest LNG importer took 65.89 million tonnes of LNG last year. The country imported 6.74 million tonnes of LNG in December, which was up by 5.7 percent, the data shows.
The 2024 figure compares to 66.15 million tonnes of LNG in 2023, which marked a decrease of 8.1 percent year-on-year.
Last year, Japan imported 10.76 million tonnes of LNG less than China, which received 76.65 million tonnes in 2024, a rise of 7.7 percent, remaining the world’s largest LNG importer.
Japan’s coal imports for power generation rose 1.8 percent to 103.3 million tonnes, the data shows.
According to data gathered by Atoms in Japan (AIJ) from all the electric power companies in the country, the average capacity factor of domestic nuclear power plants in 2024 was 30.6 percent (up 2.6 points from the previous year), and total nuclear generated electricity was 88.87 TWh, (up 9.6 percent from the previous year).
LNG import bill down
The 2024 LNG import bill reached about $39.88 billion, the ministry’s data shows.
This is down by 4.4 percent compared to 2023.
In December, the LNG import bill reached about $3.85 billion, down 8.3 percent year-on-year.
Also, JOGMEC said in a report last week that the average price of spot LNG cargoes for delivery to Japan contracted in December and scheduled to be delivered from the month onward (contract-based price) was not disclosed as there were less than two companies that imported spot LNG.
The average price of spot LNG cargoes that were delivered in Japan within December 2024 regardless of the month when the contracts were made (arrival-based price) was $14.1/MBtu.
LNG deliveries
As per LNG shipments going to Japan in 2024, deliveries from Asia rose 1.4 percent to 16.3 million tonnes, the ministry’s data shows.
Middle East LNG shipments rose 21.3 percent to 7.22 million tonnes in 2024.
Moreover, shipments from Russia dropped 7.3 percent to 5.68 million tonnes, while US deliveries increased 14.7 percent to 6.33 million tonnes in 2024.