Charter rates for the global liquefied natural gas carrier fleet continued to drop this week as vessel availability increased, while spot LNG prices remain above $30/MMBtu.
According to Spark Commodities, LNG freight rates for a 160,000-cbm TFDE carrier reached $50,000 a day in the Pacific on Tuesday, down $14,500 or 24 percent since last Tuesday.
Atlantic rates also dropped $14,000 or 29 percent to $34,250 a day.
The rates are now down over 80 percent since the winter peaks in late November, as vessel availability builds, Spark said.
To remind, the Spark25 Pacific spot rate hit a record high of $374,500 per day on November 26.
Spot LNG at about $33/MMBtu
The JKM spot LNG price surged to $56.326/MMBtu in October due to the gas price crisis in Europe and winter restocking demand among Asian end-users.
It hit the highest level for the LNG benchmark for Asian spot LNG since Platts launched it in early 2009.
The price declined in the meantime but it continues to trade above $30/MMBtu.
According to Platts, the JKM for February reached $33.265/MMBtu on Monday.
Dutch TTF price was on Monday trading at $28.094/MMBtu while Henry Hub reached $4.079/MMBtu.
