LONDON: Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices for May delivery were steady this week as a smattering of fresh supply and demand was not enough to give the market clear direction.
The price of Asian spot cargoes held steady at $7.10 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), in line with the previous week.
"It's been fairly static," a trader said, adding that there had been limited activity over the week. South Korea, the world's largest LNG importer, continued to be relatively quiet.
"Certainly they haven't been out in the market much," a trader said.
Imports into South Korea are expected to fall this year, after a period of weak economic growth and with increasing nuclear power generation, Thomson Reuters Point Carbon said in a note.
"Despite cooler weather, domestic gas sales from Korean Gas Corporation Kogas - the world's single largest LNG buyer - went down from January to March 2015 compared with previous year," the note said.
Incremental supply continued to weigh on prices with export plants in countries including Indonesia and Oman offering May-loading cargoes.
On the demand side Indian Oil launched a tender to buy one liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo for delivery in May, while Mexico's CFE is expected to launch a tender shortly for one to two cargoes for delivery to its Altamira terminal in June.
Traders continued to monitor the situation in Yemen after its liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant declared force majeure last week due to worsening security.
"It's helping sentiment," said a trader, noting it was the main supply issue globally for now.
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