Asia's March LNG imports surge amidst favorable spot prices

April 08, 2024 (MLN): Asia's imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) rose sharply in March as the top-buying region took advantage of lower spot prices to draw cargoes away from Europe, as Reuters reported.

A total of 24.16 million metric tons of the super-chilled fuel landed in Asia in March, up from February's 22.73m and also up 11.5% from the 21.67m in March 2023, according to data compiled by commodity analysts Kpler.

The strength in imports came as spot prices for LNG for delivery to North Asia remained muted in February and early March, when the bulk of cargoes would have been arranged.

The spot price hit the lowest in nearly three years in late February, when it dipped to $8.30 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) in the week to Feb. 23.

This was down from the northern winter peak of $17.90 per mmBtu in the week to Oct. 20.

The spot price has shifted slightly higher in recent weeks, ending at $9.5 per mmBtu in the seven days to April 5, up from $9.4 the prior week.

The small lift in prices is probably not enough yet to deter the price-sensitive buyers of LNG in Asia, which include India and South Asian neighbors Pakistan and Bangladesh, but also increasingly China.

China's imports of LNG rose to 6.61m tons in March, up from February's 5.82m and 5.43m in March 2023, according to Kpler.

China is the world's largest LNG importer and it tends to buy more spot cargoes when the price is below $10 mmBtu as this allows the fuel to remain competitive in some areas of China's partially regulated natural gas market.

India's LNG imports rose to a 40-month high of 2.29m tons in March, up from 1.98m February and 1.84m in March last year.

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