The average contract price for spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes for shipment to Japan last month hit a five-month high of $10.00 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), Japan's trade ministry data showed on Thursday.
Asian spot LNG prices held around $10 last month as a heatwave gripped Japan and high temperatures swept across South Korea and parts of China, boosting cooling demand.
The average price of spot LNG cargoes that arrived in Japan last month was $10.30 per mmBtu.
METI surveys spot LNG cargoes bought by Japanese utilities and other importers, but excludes cargo-by-cargo deals linked to benchmarks such as the U.S. natural gas Henry Hub index.
It only publishes a price if there is a minimum of two eligible cargoes reported by buyers.
The following table lists the monthly average prices in mmBtu for contracted and arriving spot LNG cargoes. Prices are converted to delivery on an ex-ship basis.
| Year | Month | Contract price | Arrival price |
| 2018 | July | $10.00 | $10.30 |
| 2018 | June | $9.30 | $8.90 |
| 2018 | May | $8.20 | $7.90 |
| 2018 | April | $9.10 | $8.80 |
| 2018 | March | $8.80 | $10.20 |
| 2018 | February | $10.60 | $10.90 |
| 2018 | January | $11.00 | $10.10 |
| 2017 | December | $10.20 | $8.10 |
| 2017 | November | $9.00 | $7.10 |
| 2017 | October | $8.20 | $6.10 |
| 2017 | September | $6.90 | $5.80 |
| 2017 | August | $5.80 | $5.60 |
| 2017 | July | $5.60 | $5.60 |
| 2017 | June | n/a | $5.60 |
| 2017 | May | $5.70 | $5.70 |
| 2017 | April | $5.70 | $5.90 |
| 2017 | March | $6.30 | $7.50 |
| 2017 | February | $8.50 | $8.80 |
| 2017 | January | $8.40 | $7.30 |
| 2016 | December | $8.00 | $6.80 |
| 2016 | November | $7.00 | $5.90 |
| 2016 | October | $6.10 | $5.70 |
| 2016 | September | $5.70 | n/a |
| 2016 | August | n/a | $5.40 |
| 2016 | July | $5.80 | $6.00 |
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori)
