Asian spot LNG prices finished the week up at $11.60/MMBtu, as demand for cargoes in May continued to be strong across north Asia.
The Platts May LNG Japan Korea Marker started Monday at $11.35/MMBtu. Taiwan's CPC, Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company, PetroChina and South Korea's K-Power and GS Caltex were all in the spot LNG market this week looking for a total of 15 shipments.
Post-earthquake, Japan's Tohoku Electric purchased three to five cargoes per month for delivery across April through June early this week, with the shipments priced in the range of $10.40-11.50/MMBtu. Along with another series of swaps and spot deals concluded recently for delivery into Japan, that left only higher priced offers in the market, sources said.
CPC issued a limited tender last week for May and June cargoes but did not award the tender as the offers received were too high. A source close to the matter told Platts that the Taiwanese utility was in bilateral discussions with its long-term suppliers for May, and possibly June cargoes.
Tepco continued to hunt for 10 shipments to make up for lost nuclear and thermal capacity after the massive earthquake in Japan on March 11 took out a combined 10 GW of power generation. State-owned PetroChina is seeking one May LNG cargo for the commissioning of its Rudong terminal in eastern China, several sources told Platts.
The 3.5 million mt/year Rudong facility in the eastern province of Jiangsu will start up in April, a PetroChina spokesman said in mid-January. A source close to the company said that the startup could be delayed to early May as technical issues were being resolved.
The start of the Rudong LNG terminal will make PetroChina China's second LNG terminal operator.
H2 April ended the week up at $11.35/MMBtu Friday, after starting the week at $11.10/MMBtu, with a backwardation of $0.30/MMBtu to H2 May Friday.
"[China's] CNOOC is probably the only buyer left for April but I'm not sure if they're buying through a tender or discussions," a trader said.
Platts Asia Pacific Day Rate for LNG ship charters was stable across the week at $85,000/day.
Platts FOB ME ended the week higher at $9.80/MMBtu, after starting March 21 at $9.55/MMBtu.
