Rotterdam's LNG bunker price has declined amid lower bunker premiums, while Singapore's price has dropped alongside weak demand in the broader Asian LNG market.

Changes in weekly LNG bunker prices:

• Rotterdam down by $11/mt to $852/mt
• Singapore down by $24/mt to $846/mt

Rotterdam

Rotterdam's LNG bunker price has dropped by $11/mt over the past week, reaching $852/mt. This decrease was mainly driven by a decline in LNG bunker premiums, which fell from approximately $145/mt to $113/mt.

However, this decrease contrasts with a rise in the front-month Dutch TTF Natural Gas contract, a key European gas market benchmark, which increased by $0.41/MMBtu ($21/mt) to $14.22/MMBtu ($739/mt) during the same period.

Singapore

Singapore's LNG bunker price has fallen by a steep $24/mt over the past week, reflecting weak LNG demand in northeast Asia. Its LNG bunker price premium of $7/mt over Rotterdam has reversed to a $6/mt discount within a week.

According to Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), LNG inventories for power generation reached 2.11 million mt, an increase of 240,000 mt from the previous week.

“Import demand among the big buyers has been weak, and some, like China, have been reselling their cargoes in the spot market,” said Emma Richards, associate director of oil and gas at research firm BMI.

Regional LNG bunker prices are generally linked to NYMEX Japan/Korea Marker (JKM) values. During the same period, the front-month JKM contract declined by $0.38/MMBtu to $13.78/MMBtu.

“JKM prices have actually softened a little in the year to date. The weather’s been relatively mild and stockpiles are healthy,” Richards added.

Singapore’s LNG bunker sales made massive gains last year, clocking in 464,000 mt sold. That was more than quadruple the 111,000 mt sold in 2023, which in turn was six times the 16,000 mt sold in 2022, when gas prices surged on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

By Tuhin Roy

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