This story requires a subscription
This includes a single user license.
State-owned Kogas sold 2.56 million mt last month, a rise of 10.8 percent compared to 2.31 million mt in August 2023, the firm said in a stock exchange filing.
August sales rose 5.1 percent compared to the previous month’s 2.44 million mt, which rose 6.9 percent year-on-year.
In June LNG sales rose 8.7 percent to 2.28 million mt, May LNG sales increased 6 percent to 2.27 million mt, while April sales dropped 7.5 percent to 2.3 million mt. March sales rose 10.9 percent to 3.48 million mt, marking the first monthly increase since August last year.
Purchases by power firms rose 14.7 percent year-on-year to 1.64 million mt in August. These purchases increased 11.7 percent compared to the previous month.
Moreover, Kogas said its city gas sales rose 4.4 percent year-on-year to 0.92 million mt, while these sales were down 5 percent compared to the month before.
Kogas said in its second-quarter earnings report last month that city gas demand rose 4.7 percent during the period.
Residential demand increased due to a lower average temperature and economic recovery, and industrial demand rose due to strong exports which improved manufacturing demand, it said.
Kogas noted total power generation decreased 7.7 percent in the second quarter due to higher power generation by direct LNG sourcing companies.
Korean LNG imports
Kogas operates 77 LNG storage tanks at five LNG import terminals in South Korea.
The large terminals include Incheon, Pyeongtaek, Tongyeong, and Samcheok, while the firm has a small-scale regasification terminal at the Aewol port on Jeju island as well.
In addition to these facilities, the firm is building a large terminal in the western port city of Dangjin and expects to launch the first phase in 2025.
Kogas recently completed lifting the roofs on all four 270,000-cbm tanks at its Dangjin LNG import facility.
Official data for South Korean LNG imports in August this year has not been released yet.
During January-July, South Korean LNG terminals took 26.49 million mt, a rise from 25.71 million mt in the same period last year, according to customs data.
Australia was the biggest supplier during the period with 6.60 million mt of LNG, and the country was followed by Malaysia with 3.01 million mt and Oman with 2.61 million mt, the data shows.
South Korean LNG imports in July rose to 3.04 million mt from 2.61 million mt in July 2023, while LNG imports in June rose to 3.07 million mt from 2.93 million mt in June 2023, and May LNG imports rose to 3.58 million mt from 3.10 million mt in May 2023, the data shows.