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According to latest Platts Japan/Korea Marker data for month-ahead delivery prices of spot LNG for April delivery to northeast Asia continued their downward slide, falling 59.8% year over year to average $7.279 per million British thermal units. The figure reflects the daily Japan/Korea Marker assessed published by Platts between February 16 and March 13 expressed as a monthly average,.
Platts noted the year-over-year drop was largely attributed to weaker-than-expected demand from buyers in northeast Asia, where both electricity generation and utility gas usage are down on fairly mild temperatures over the winter season, and slowing economic growth. The fall followed the record year-over-year plunge of 61.7% seen the previous trading month.
Month over month, the April Japan/Korea Marker dipped a more marginal 2.1%, suggesting that the downward spiral in prices was beginning to lose momentum according to Platts.
The Japan/Korea Marker had opened the trading month at $6.725/MMBtu on assessment date February 16 before beginning a steady uptick that saw the marker gain 97.5 cents over the period to close at $7.70/MMBtu on assessment date March 13.
This was the first sustained period of increases for the Japan/Korea Marker since the beginning of 2015, although the market remained in backwardation*, as demand is expected to slow further with the advent of northern hemisphere spring and warmer temperatures.
Source: LNG Global
