Trafigura, Vitol trade first JKM derivative contract on Platts LNG MOC

Singapore — Swiss LNG trading houses Trafigura and Vitol concluded the first trade for an LNG derivative contract during the Platts JKM Market on Close assessment process in Singapore on Thursday.

Vitol Asia traded Trafigura's bid for 50,000 MMBtu, or five lots, of the April full-month JKM derivative contract at $3.45/MMBtu.

This first derivative MOC deal comes amid burgeoning trade for LNG derivatives with record monthly trading volumes seen for JKM derivatives cleared on the Intercontinental Exchange in February.

LNG derivatives trading volumes on ICE grew 1.5% to 79,584 lots, or 241 cargoes, over February, according to exchange and broker data.

JKM derivatives cleared on both ICE and Chicago Mercantile Exchange in 2019 surged to 107 million mt.

The structured and transparent MOC is a process in which bids, offers and transactions are submitted by participants to S&P Global Platts editors and published in real time throughout the day until the market close.