South Korea sharply increased LNG purchases”/>
South Korea, the third largest buyer of LNG in the world after Japan and China, imported 3.340 million tons of LNG in September 2024, which is 12% more than in the same month of 2023, the country’s customs service reports, Day.Az reports with reference. on Interfax.
Activity, including from Korean buyers, supports gas prices in the region. The regional JKM Platts index (Japan Korea Marker, reflects the spot market value of cargo supplied to Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan) in September 2024 was about $480 per thousand cubic meters, after $490 in August.
Trade in liquefied natural gas, which is transported on large gas tankers, may be characterized by uneven acceptance of shipments between months. Since the beginning of the year, imports amounted to 34.0 million tons, which is 6% more than a year earlier (32.169 million tons). The difference is already about 25 standard batches.
Three LNG shipments arrived from Russia in September; last year there were two in September. Large-scale LNG in the Russian Federation is produced by the Sakhalin Energy plants (co-owners Gazprom, Mitsui and Mitsubishi), as well as Yamal LNG (participants NOVATEK, TotalEnergies, Chinese CNPC and SRF).
The largest supplier in September was Australia (890 thousand tons, +100% compared to last year), followed by the USA (610 thousand tons, +13%) and Qatar (533 thousand tons, -46%).
The International Energy Agency, as a spokesman for the interests of energy buyers, traditionally announces greatly underestimated demand forecasts. With regard to gas consumption in South Korea for 2024, a forecast of a decrease of 3% was initially announced, then it was adjusted to minus 2%. In a new (October) review of the global market, the IEA admitted that gas consumption in South Korea will still increase in 2024 – by a symbolic 1% (due to increased consumption in industry and the public sector; while in the energy sector, demand will be constrained by competition from nuclear power plants ).