Japan reports lower LNG spot prices amid slack demand, new supply
TOKYO, March 9 (Reuters) -- Liquefied natural gas (LNG) spot prices for delivery to Japan, the world's biggest buyer, in February fell to its lowest since the trade ministry started publishing figures two years ago, official data showed on Wednesday.
The average price for cargoes contracted in Feb. was $6.50/MMBtu, down 60 cents from the previous month, and marking the lowest in data going back to March 2014, the trade ministry said.
The average price for cargoes arriving in Japan during February dropped to $6.90 per mmBtu, marking it as the first time it fell below $7 on the data.
Spot Asian LNG prices extended declines to below $5/MMBtu late last month amid slack demand and more supply beginning to flow from the United States and Australia.
The ministry surveys spot LNG cargoes bought by Japanese utilities and other importers, while excluding cargo-by-cargo deals linked to benchmark prices such as the U.S. natural gas Henry Hub index.
It only publishes a price if there is a minimum of two eligible cargoes reported by buyers. Prices are converted to a delivery ex-ship basis.
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
The following table lists the monthly average prices in MMBtu for contracted and arriving spot LNG cargoes:
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