TOKYO: Volumes of customs-cleared crude oil imports in Japan fell 8.9 percent in November from the same month a year earlier, hurt by the country's sluggish economy.
Imports of liquefied natural gas jumped 21 percent to their second-highest ever, however, as gas-fired power generation plugged the gap left by the shutdown of most nuclear reactors after the March earthquake.
Industry in the country faces a long recovery after the magnitude 9.0 quake and ensuing tsunami on March 11 devastated the northeast coast, damaging roads, ports and other infrastructure and disrupting supply chains.
Japan, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, imported 17.158 million kilolitres (3.60 million barrels per day) of crude oil last month, preliminary data from the Ministry of Finance showed on Wednesday.
The decline in crude oil imports came with factors such as reconstruction after the massive quake and rising demand for direct-burn crude for power generation yet to offset slowing oil demand from the sluggish economy.
That compared with October imports of 16.747 million kl.
LNG JUMP
Imports of LNG jumped 21.3 percent year-on-year to 6.981 million tonnes last month, following a record high of 7.545 million tonnes in August, reflecting robust demand for power generation to offset record-low nuclear plant utilisation rates.
The 10 regionally dominant utilities burned the equivalent of 4.11 million tonnes of LNG in November, up 33.5 percent from a year earlier.
Imports of thermal coal for power generation fell 11.5 percent to 7.782 million tonnes, as some coal-fired plants were still unable to operate at full capacity due to damage from the March quake.
The Japan Crude Cocktail (JCC) price, or the average price for customs-cleared crude oil imports which is used as the benchmark for LNG prices for Japanese buyers, stood at $109.33 a barrel in November. That compared with $82.21 in the same month a year earlier and a revised $110.89 in October.
In yen terms, the JCC price last month was 53,148 yen per kilolitre, compared with 42,086 yen a year earlier and 53,495 yen in October.
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