September 12, 2023 [LNG Prime]- State-run Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) has published the first contract-based monthly spot LNG price since December 2022.

JOGMEC did not publish both the contract-based and the arrival-based monthly spot LNG prices in the January-July period as there were less than two companies that imported spot LNG.

Also, JOGMEC excludes LNG cargoes if spot LNG prices are linked to other indices, such as Henry Hub or JKM.

The contract-based price in December 2022 was $30.8/MMBtu.

“The average price of spot LNG cargoes for delivery to Japan contracted in August 2023 and scheduled to be delivered from the month onward (contract-based price) was $11.6/MMBtu,” JOGMEC said.

The firm did not publish the arrival-based price or the average price of spot LNG cargoes that were delivered in Japan within the month of August regardless of the month when the contract was made, it said.

Australian strike, Japan’s LNG inventories

JOGMEC said in a separate report that the Northeast Asian assessed spot LNG price JKM for the previous week (September 4 – 8) fell from the “high US$13s of the previous week to the high US$12s on September 7 amid market participants’ expectation that supply risks from Australia would ease in the future and that inventory levels would remain comfortable.”

“The following day, September 8, JKM rose to the low US$13s due to the start of strikes at Wheatstone and Gorgon in Australia,” it said.

Japan’s METI announced on September 6 that Japan’s LNG inventories for power generation totaled 1.73 million tonnes as of September 3, up 0.28 million tonnes from the previous week.

The country’s Ministry of Finance has not yet published its data for LNG imports in August.

Japan’s monthly LNG) imports continued to decline in July, dropping by 17.4 percent year-on-year in July to about 5.09 million tonnes.

LNG imports dropped by 13.3 percent year-on-year in January-June to 32.62 million tonnes.

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