Japan Offers Little Hope to Saturated Market

摘要

Japan looks unlikely to bring relief to oversupplied global LNG markets this year as its appetite continues to shrink.Japanese demand is closely watched: It imports all its gas as LNG,mainly for power,and is the world's largest importer,accounting for over a quarter of global trade.But after a warmer-than-expected winter capped heating demand,LNG inventories are still brimming,with gas sendout slowed by tepid economic growth.At the same time,mounting competition from coal,solar and returning nuclear is chipping away at LNG's share of the electricity mix.As a result,demand will likely remain weak at least until winter buying starts,market participants and industry observers say.Japanese LNG imports have gradually dropped since peaking at 88.5 million tons in 2014,three years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster,totaling 82.9 million tons in 2018.Imports amounted to 27.8 million tons in the first four months of this year,down 7.6% from a year earlier,Energy Intelligence data shows.In the same period of 2018,the year-on-year fall was 2.3%.Consultancy Bernstein forecasts that demand will drop 10% from 2017 to 2030,making Japan the only Asian LNG importer with negative growth.By contrast,demand in China-the world's second-biggest LNG buyer,with 54 million tons last year-is forecast to rocket 70%o over the same period(WGI May29'19).