Japan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports rose for the second consecutive month in June after logging a decline in March-April.
The world’s largest importer of LNG received 5.70 million tonnes of the fuel last month, up 8.5 percent when compared to the same month last year, according to the provisional data released by the country’s Ministry of Finance.
Compared to the previous month when Japan took 4.95 million tonnes, LNG imports rose by 15 percent.
LNG supplies in June cost Japan about $2.67 billion, a rise of 4.3 percent year-on-year.
The average contract-based price for spot LNG cargoes shipped to Japan in June reached $9.70/mmBtu, state-run Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC) said.
Looking at last month’s LNG shipments, deliveries from Asia from countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia dropped by 13.4 percent to 1.28 million tonnes, the ministry’s data shows.
Middle East LNG shipments from sources like Qatar rose by 6.9 percent to 1.14 million tonnes.
Additionally, shipments from Russia increased 83.7 percent to 488,000 tonnes while US deliveries surged 162.2 percent to 542,000 tonnes.