Southeast Asia has been providing some much-needed support to LNG markets, particularly in the first four months of this year. More cargoes headed to the hitherto marginal markets of Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia as importers sniffed out bargain buys for price spread optimization and trading amid record-low spot prices. Governments also moved to take advantage of the ultra-low prices by rolling out regulatory frameworks for downstream market liberalization that allow more firms to import LNG direct (WGI Nov.27'19). Imports into Southeast Asia jumped 35% over the four months to 4.25 million tons, despite the coronavirus pandemic - although to put that in context, imports into the giant Northeast Asian market totaled more than 68 million tons over the same period. While demand in China and India could rise once lockdowns end, short-term gains will likely be capped by factors including slow economic recovery (WGI May27'20).
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