Japanese utilities' LNG stocks fall further 2% on week ahead of snow forecast

LNG stocks held by Japan's major power utilities continued to edge lower in the week to Feb. 6, falling 2.4% to 1.63 million mt from 1.67 million mt the week before, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Feb. 9, ahead of snowfall forecast in Tokyo after severely tightened electricity supply capacity last month.

Stocks have fallen from a peak this winter season of 2.42 million mt on Dec. 23, METI data showed.

METI does not have directly comparable data for the same week last year, but at the end of February 2021 stocks stood at 2.3 million mt, while the four-year average for end-February is 1.98 million mt, the METI data showed.

Stocks at end January 2021 stood at 1.49 million mt, while the four-year average for end-January is 1.67 million mt.

The latest LNG stocks data comes as snowfall is forecast for the Tokyo area Feb. 10 that is expected to be as heavy as the snowfall on Jan. 6, a Japan Meteorological Agency official said Feb. 9.

Tokyo's 23 wards are forecast to receive snowfall of 5-10 cm, with the Tama area forecast to receive for 10-20 cm, the official said.

Japan's Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Koichi Hagiuda said Jan. 7 that the area covered by the TEPCO Power Grid could have faced a power outage Jan. 6 had there been any glitch at a power plant, as utilization had risen to 97% of available supply on the day.

The Japan Electric Power Exchange on Feb. 9 set its Day Ahead 24-hour price at Yen 34.34/kwh for Feb. 10, surging from Yen 20.83/kwh Feb. 9. The Day Ahead day or 8 am-10 pm price was set at Yen 43.58/kwh for Feb. 10, more than doubling from Yen 21.45/kwh for Feb. 9.