South Korea dramatically increased LNG purchasesc

By Alimat Aliyeva

South Korea, the third largest LNG buyer in the world after Japan and China, imported 3.340 million tons of LNG in September 2024, which is 12% more than in the same month of 2023, the country's customs service reports, Azernews reports.

The activity, including of Korean buyers, supports gas prices in the region. The JKM Platts regional index (Japan Korea Marker, reflects the spot market value of goods shipped to Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan) in September 2024 amounted to about $480 per thousand cubic meters, after $490 in August.

The trade in liquefied natural gas, which is transported on large gas tankers, may be characterized by uneven acceptance of shipments between months. Since the beginning of the year, imports amounted to 34.0 million tons, which is 6% more than a year earlier (32.169 million tons). The difference is already about 25 standard batches.

Three LNG shipments arrived from Russia in September; last year there were two in September. Large-capacity LNG in Russia is produced by Sakhalin Energy plants (co-owned by Gazprom, Mitsui and Mitsubishi), as well as Yamal LNG (participants are NOVATEK, TotalEnergies, Chinese CNPC and SRF).

Australia was the largest supplier in September (890 thousand tons, +100% compared to last year's level), followed by the United States (610 thousand tons, +13%) and Qatar (533 thousand tons, -46%).

The International Energy Agency, as a representative of the interests of energy buyers, traditionally declares severely underestimated demand forecasts. With regard to gas consumption in South Korea for 2024, a forecast of a decrease of 3% was initially announced, then it was adjusted to minus 2%. In a new (October) review of the global market, the IEA recognized that gas consumption in South Korea will still grow by a symbolic 1% in 2024 (due to increased consumption in industry and the municipal sector; at the same time, demand in the energy sector will be restrained by competition from nuclear power plants).