Japan's LNG, thermal coal imports hit records in Jan

TOKYO: Japan's imports of liquefied natural gas and thermal coal rose to records in January on an increased need for fuel to fire power plants due to the extended shutdowns of nuclear reactors following the Fukushima crisis, customs-cleared Ministry of Finance data showed on Thursday.

The monthly records for LNG and thermal coal imports follow record annual highs posted last year for the two fuels. All 48 commercial nuclear reactors in Japan have been shut since September 2013, with no schedule for restarts pending stringent safety checks enforced after the Fukushima crisis in 2011.

Japan's LNG imports totalled 8.43 million tonnes last month, up 3.1 percent from a year earlier. Imports of thermal coal climbed 10.2 percent in January to 11.19 million tonnes, the data showed.

Japan, the world's fourth-biggest crude buyer, also imported 3.55 million barrels per day (17.52 million kilolitres) of crude oil last month, down 7.2 percent on year, the preliminary data showed.

The Japan Crude Cocktail (JCC) price was $63.85 a barrel in January, the lowest since June 2009, against $79.07 in December and $113.51 a year earlier.

The JCC is the average price for customs-cleared crude oil imports and is used as the benchmark for LNG prices for Japanese buyers.

In yen terms, JCC was 47,895 yen per kilolitre last month, down from 58,954 yen in December and 74,629 yen a year ago.

Following is a preliminary breakdown of energy imports for last month, with volumes of crude, oil products and gasoline/naphtha in million kilolitres; LNG, LPG and coal in million tonnes; values in million yen.