Europe

Home page

Europe

Asia's LNG demand ticks higher, but Europe's slips, leaving prices muted

01 August 2023 12:21 (UTC +04:00)

Asia's demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) ticked up to the most in six months in July but the small increase was partially offset by declining demand in Europe, APA-Economics reports citing Reuters.

Asia's imports of the super-chilled fuel were estimated at 21.85 million metric tons in July by commodity analysts Kpler, up from June's 21.28 million and the most since January.

Europe's imports were estimated at 8.72 million metric tons in July, down from June's 9.06 million and lowest monthly total since August last year.

The Kpler data point to an increase of just 570,000 metric tons in Asia's imports in July, while Europe saw a drop of 340,000.

The modest shift in volumes in the top two LNG importing regions isn't enough to exert much influence on spot prices, as can be seen by the relative stability in Asian price.

Spot LNG for delivery to north Asia increased slightly in the week to July 28, ending at $11.00 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), up from $10.80 the week before.