Gulf Times, 1 Jan 2009
Singapore: Asian utilities may cut imports of liquefied natural gas spot cargoes by more than 70% in January as a global recession curbs demand from businesses and households, ship-tracking data and government figures show.
Utilities such as Korea Gas Corp and Tokyo Electric Power Co may have reduced purchases to at least seven cargoes for delivery from the Atlantic Ocean area, compared with about 25 a year earlier, according to transmissions from ships captured by AISLive on Bloomberg on Tuesday and official data.
Slower economic growth has reduced electricity demand in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, while a cooler summer in the Northern Hemisphere boosted inventories.
Spot LNG prices, including shipping, have fallen 50% to about $12 per million British thermal units from $20 in August, according to government data from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
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