Japan imports less LNG from Middle East in October
Japan took less LNG from all Middle East countries in October with combined imports from the region of 942,982t, down by 27.8pc on the year and by 10.8pc on the month.
LNG imports totalled 4.6mn t in October, down by 22.1pc from October 2020 and by 14.5pc from September according to data released today from the ministry of finance. Japan delivered 66,967t of LNG from Oman in the past month, the lowest volume since May 2015. Japan also cut imports from Qatar and no cargoes were delivered from UAE in October.
The Middle East was not the only region with fewer deliveries in October. Imports from most countries in Asia-Pacific shrank in October with combined imports of 2.7mn t, down by 18pc 7on the year and by 21.2pc on the month.
October imports weakened because of lower demand across Japanese utilities. Utilities held around 2.3mn t of LNG inventories in the middle of October, about 44pc higher on the year and 28pc higher than the past four-year average, according to a survey by the country's trade and industry ministry. But stocks declined significantly during October as winter neared. Stocks totalled 2.07mn t at the end of October. Utilities began to build stocks from the end of October and held 2.2mn t as of 15 November.
| Japan's LNG imports | t | ||||
| Oct 2021 | Sep 2021 | Oct 2020 | M % ± | Y % ± | |
| Australia | 2,015,395 | 2,175,549 | 2,275,979 | -7.4 | -11.4 |
| Malaysia | 616,505 | 427,138 | 736,451 | 44.3 | -16.3 |
| Qatar | 683,236 | 666,803 | 937,405 | 2.5 | -27.1 |
| Russia | 393,139 | 651,757 | 528,975 | -39.7 | -25.7 |
| Indonesia | 63,358 | 128,806 | 55,396 | -50.8 | 14.4 |
| UAE | 0 | 177,145 | 60,428 | -100.0 | -100.0 |
| Papua New Guinea | 228,799 | 355,060 | 360,511 | -35.6 | -36.5 |
| Brunei | 196,152 | 380,139 | 322,438 | -48.4 | -39.2 |
| Oman | 66,967 | 121,373 | 191,129 | -44.8 | -65.0 |
| Yemen | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - |
| Nigeria | 0 | 0 | 204,249 | - | -100.0 |
| Algeria | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - |
| Equatorial Guinea | 55,579 | 0 | 0 | - | - |
| US | 309,308 | 326,709 | 198,610 | -5.3 | 55.7 |
| Others | 0 | 0 | 71,399 | - | -100.0 |
| Total | 4,628,438 | 5,410,479 | 5,942,970 | -14.5 | -22.1 |
| Source: Ministry of finance |
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