Japanese utilities' LNG stocks dip 0.6% on week to 1.65 million mt

LNG stocks held by Japan's major power utilities dipped a further 0.6% week on week to 1.65 million mt April 3, an official at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said April 6.

The LNG inventory marked the third consecutive week-on-week decline in the weekly data after having rebounded 17% on the week from the current winter low of 1.47 million mt March 6 to 1.72 million mt March 13.

Despite the lower LNG stock level, Japanese power utilities are not seeking prompt spot LNG cargoes with the country entering the off-demand season amid high spot LNG prices, according to market sources.

The JKM for May delivery has been hovering in the $30-$39/MMBtu range since the roll on March 16. Platts JKM was assessed at $32.02/MMBtu on April 5 for May delivery, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.

This is still significantly higher compared to the assessment on April 5 in 2021, 2019, and 2018 at $7.088/MMBtu, $4.475/MMBtu and $7.125/MMBtu, respectively.

At least two Japanese power utilities, however, are seeking spot LNG cargoes for June onwards, with one of the two utilities seeking a strip of multiple cargoes over June-February 2023, market sources said.

METI does not have directly comparable data for the same week of April 3 in 2021, but at the end of March 2021, stocks stood at 2.41 million mt, while the four-year average for end-March is 2.19 million mt, the data showed.

The LNG inventory stood at 2.01 million mt at the end of April 2021, with the four-year average for end-April at 1.90 million mt.