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Japan's March LNG imports up 6.6% on month to 6.67 million mtJapan's March LNG imports up 6.6% on month to 6.67 million mt Singapore (Platts)--28Apr2011/420 am EDT/820 GMT Japan's March LNG imports were up 6.6% from February to 6.67 million mt but down slightly by 0.6% year-on-year, customs data released Thursday by the Ministry of Finance showed. The largest exporter to Japan was Malaysia, providing 1.56 million mt, up 28.1% year-on-year and 18.3% month-on-month. Australia was second with 1.21 million mt, up 8.1% from February but down 10.9% from the same time last year. The most expensive imports were from Qatar, priced at an average of $730.47/mt ($14.05/MMBtu). The cheapest cargoes were from Oman, priced at an average of $452.43/mt ($8.70/MMBtu). Overall, Japan paid an average $644.04/mt ($12.39/MMBtu) for its LNG in March, up 3% from February. The Japan Customs Cleared crude oil price in February was $102.966/barrel, up 7.4% month-on-month and 34.7% higher from March 2010. Term LNG contracts tend to be linked to the JCC crude price, but with a lag of a few months, so the rise in oil prices typically takes some time to feed through to LNG prices. JAPAN'S LNG IMPORTS: Mar 2011 Feb 2011 Mar 2010 % change % change (in mt) (in mt) (in mt) on month on year Malaysia 1,560,583 1,319,105 1,218,270 18.3 28.1 Australia 1,205,281 1,114,971 1,352,676 8.1 -10.9 Indonesia 1,093,309 1,155,234 1,102,135 -5.4 -0.8 Qatar 766,830 743,137 805,611 3.2 -4.8 Brunei 619,671 453,463 523,160 36.7 18.4 Oman 249,071 186,394 381,956 33.6 -34.8 UAE 465,703 423,751 484,251 9.9 -3.8 Russia 466,372 651,812 645,943 -28.4 -27.8 Nigeria 120,418 63,033 - 91.0 NA US 71,034 34,356 70,857 106.8 0.2 Trinidad 55,228 - - NA NA Egypt - 57,804 - NA NA Eq Guinea - 58,088 125,941 NA NA Total 6,673,500 6,261,148 6,710,800 6.6 -0.6 CIF PRICE $/mt 644.12 625.28 546.13 3.0 17.9 Yen/mt 53,063 51,517 49,212 3.0 7.8 Exchange rate 82.38 82.39 90.11 0.0 -8.6 JCC price ($/b) 102.966 95.834 76.423 7.4 34.7 Source: Ministry of Finance --Hong Chou Hui, chou_hui_hong@platts.com S |
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