Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices continued their downtrend recently, hitting the lowest level since July 2021, due to tepid demand which is expected to last until the end of March.
The average LNG price for April delivery into northeast Asia LNG-AS was $14.50 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), industry sources estimated, down $0.50, or 2.3 per cent, from the previous week, industry sources estimated.
Prices have fallen more than 48 per cent year-to-date and around 79 per cent from the August 2022 peak at $70.50/mmBtu.
"Recent prices have encouraged South Asian buyers. However it appears sub-$15 still isn't quite enough for the Chinese," said Toby Copson, global head of trading at Trident LNG.
"While market weakness is still evident, it's likely going to take a prolonged period of lows to entice the state-owned enterprises and tier 2 and 3s (players) back. I don't think we've seen the trigger price yet to make the domestic arbitrage profitable," he added.
