LONDON: Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices for June delivery were steady this week as demand from end users remained subdued, traders said.
The price of Asian spot cargoes was unchanged from the previous week at $7.40 per million British thermal units (mmBtu).
"There's not an awful lot of end user demand, weather driven demand is not there, Korea, Japan and China end users are not particularly motivated at the moment," said a trader. "It's also clear that some portfolio players are short and maybe a bit concerned about being short during summer months, so that demand is there, but not end user demand."
Imports into some of the world's top LNG buyers in Asia including South Korea and China were lower than expected in the first quarter, while shipments into Europe rose, as price convergence between the markets encouraged a pick up in deliveries to North West European terminals.
Independent LNG consultant Andy Flower estimated European LNG imports rose by over 30 percent in the first quarter to 10.32 million tonnes, net of re-exports, compared with the same period a year ago.
"It's not about demand in Europe, it's about the availability of supply," Flower said, adding the market was well supplied with new projects starting in Australia.
Flower said Qatar, the world's largest LNG supplier, was the main driver behind the rise, almost doubling its shipments to Europe versus the same period last year to around 5 million tonnes.
"If the Qataris decide to keep delivering then yes the trend for higher imports will continue," Flower said, adding that even if this level of shipments was sustained, European import terminals would not be operating anywhere near full capacity.
"In terms of importing countries, the largest increases were in the UK and Belgium which are both major destination for Qatari LNG. Spain and France were both down despite fewer reloads."
Spain may export two liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes in June, according to data released by gas grid operator Enagas. Meanwhile Swiss trading house Trafigura is to pick up one cargo of LNG from Britain's Isle of Grain import terminal, which has begun to offer a reload service.
On the supply side, a loss of power since May 5 has hurt production of LNG at Australia's North West Shelf export plant.
Traders were awaiting clarity on results for buy tenders from Jordan, India and Argentina.
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