Strong European LNG imports in May, coupled with downtime at France's Montoir and Belgium's Zeebrugge terminals, meant that LNG deliveries to Germany, Italy and the Netherlands hit fresh record highs in May.
Aggregate EU sendout of 4.2 TWh/d in May was up on 3.1 TWh/d a year earlier and down only slightly from 4.4 TWh/d in April, according to GIE transparency platform data, despite works at the 8mn t/yr Montoir and 11.4mn t/yr Zeebrugge terminals capping regasification in northwest Europe.
US fob supply continued to head to Europe as buyers there continued to offer premiums to buyers elsewhere. European terminals — including in the UK — received nearly 10mn t last month, up from about 8mn t in May 2024, Kpler data show. European LNG imports could have been even higher last month. But incentives for floating storage led five vessels to hold off the continent in late May, waiting for higher prices to materialise in the first half of June.
Shippers had to find alternative import routes to Zeebrugge and Montoir for Atlantic supply in May, leading to a surge in imports in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. LNG deliveries to the three hit record highs in May.
German imports reached 627,000t, up from a previous high of 577,000t in April. Deliveries to Italy rose to 1.3mn t last month from 887,000t in May 2024, exceeding the previous record of 1.2mn t in March 2023. And LNG deliveries to the Netherlands hit 1.6mn t, up from 1.2mn t a year earlier.
There was no rise in receipts at Spanish terminals from the reorientation of flows because the Spain was still well supplied, with PVB prices at discounts to the TTF. Spanish consumption was weak in May as usual because the weather was mild enough to limit gas use for heating and not hot enough to spur cooling demand. Additionally, Spain does not have much storage capacity or injection demand, and its limited interconnections with the rest of Europe mean it is not a transit market, like France.
Much of the regasified LNG headed to central and eastern Europe, based on flow data. German gas exports to Austria rose to nearly 400 GWh/d in May — up from 295 GWh/d in April — and were the highest since at least 2022. Italy's exports to Austria were also up on the month.
