Japan’s LNG imports dropped 1.1 percent in March after rising for three months in a row on high winter demand.
The world’s largest importer of LNG received 7.12 million tonnes of LNG last month, compared to 7.20 million tonnes in the same month last year, according to the provisional data released by the country’s Ministry of Finance.
To remind, January LNG imports rose 7.3 percent to 8.06 million tonnes while February volumes increased 21.5 percent year-on-year reaching almost the same quantity as the month before.
LNG imports in March cost Japan about $2.73 billion, down 22.8 percent year-on-year. Moreover, the average contract-based price for spot LNG cargoes shipped to Japan in March reached $6.60/mmBtu.
Looking at last month’s LNG shipments, deliveries from Asia from countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia declined by 3.3 percent to 1.68 million tonnes, the ministry’s data shows.
Middle East LNG shipments from sources like Qatar increased by 33 percent to 1.24 million tonnes.
Additionally, shipments from Russia rose 22.6 percent to 640,000 tonnes while US deliveries doubled to 815,000 tonnes.