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The country’s LNG imports decreased to 6.24 million tonnes last month compared to 6.64 million tonnes in January 2025.
LNG imports also dropped compared to 6.54 million tonnes in the prior month, which rose by 2.8 percent year-on-year.
Japan is the world’s second-largest importer of LNG, and it reported a 1.4 percent decrease in its LNG imports in 2025.
Moreover, Japan’s coal imports for power generation decreased in January compared to the same month last year.
The ministry’s data shows that coal imports were down by 4.8 percent to 9.89 million tonnes.
LNG import bill drops
The January LNG import bill, which was approxmately $3.56 billion, dropped by 18.1 percent compared to the same month last year.
JOGMEC said in its preliminary report last week that the average price of spot LNG cargoes for delivery to Japan contracted in January 2026 and scheduled to be delivered from the month onward (contract-based price) was $11.3/MMBtu.
Furthermore, the average price of spot LNG cargoes that were delivered in Japan within the month of January 2026, regardless of the month when the contracts were made (arrival-based price), was $11.2/MMBtu.
JOGMEC said the confirmed figures for December 2025 were not changed from the preliminary figures, with the contract-based priceat $10.7/MMBtu, and the arrival-based price at $11.3/MMBtu.
LNG inventories
METI previously announced that Japan’s LNG inventories for power generation stood at 2.29 million tonnes on January 4, down from 2.43 million tonnes the previous week.
According to METI, LNG inventories stood at 2.28 million tonnes on January 11, 2.29 million tonnes on January 18, 2.25 million tonnes on January 25, 2.08 million tonnes on February 1, 1.89 million tonnes on February 8, and 2 million tonnes on February 15.
Deliveries
As per LNG shipments going to Japan in January, deliveries from Asia dropped by 23.2 percent year-on-year to 1.56 million tonnes, the ministry’s data shows.
Middle East LNG shipments rose by 10 percent to 712,000 tonnes in January.
Moreover, shipments from Russia increased slightly by 0.1 percent to 573,000 tonnes, while US deliveries dropped by 13.4 percent to 393,000 tonnes in January.
