Asia Pacific: Price trends

The prices of LNG imports entering Japan and South Korea have seen a small rise.

The average price for LNG imports into Japan was $6.4/MMBtu in July, up by 10% from June. A smaller month-on-month increase was seen in South Korea, where average LNG import prices were up to $5.9/MMBtu in July compared with $5.7/MMBtu in June. Prices increased as the rise in oil prices from this year filtered through to oil-indexed contracts. Prices were still down on an annual basis, with a 28% decrease in Japan and a 33% fall in South Korea. Month-on-month rises have also been seen in India, where average the LNG price rose by 5% in June from a month earlier, to $5.8/MMBtu. This was down by 40% on an annual basis, but the decline was more modest than those seen earlier in the year. Prices fell by 52% on an annual basis in May. Further increases in average LNG import prices will be limited over the coming months, as average oil prices have not seen further consistent gains.