Japan’s Feb LNG Imports Fell 5.9% Year on Year

Japanese LNG imports in February declined by 5.9% on the year to 6mn tons, due to higher LNG storage withdrawals and an increase in renewables output, data released by the Ministry of Finance showed.

• February imports from Australia, Qatar and Brunei declined, while imports from Oman, the US, Papua New Guinea and Russia increased.
• Jan-Feb LNG imports declined by 8.2% on the year.
• LNG stockpiles held by Japanese utilities declined by 5% last week to 1.52mn tons as of 24 March, data released by the trade ministry showed. Volumes were below the five-year average of 2.14mn tons for the end of March and below 2023 levels of 2.33mn tons.
• An estimated 15.71GW of Japanese gas-fired power plants will be down for maintenance in March and 16.3GW in April, Rystad Energy's Senior Analyst Masanori Odaka said.
• "Power demand, in general, is likely going to decline in April-May coupled with additional output from renewable energy sources such as solar in the period," Odaka said in a note.