LNG Bunker Snapshot: Rotterdam price declines on weaker premiums

Singapore-ARA spread widens to $185/mt

Lower bunker premiums pull TTF down

JKM inches up on escalating Middle East tensions and summer demand

Weekly changes in LNG bunker prices:

• Rotterdam down by $27/mt to $853/mt
• Singapore up by $11/mt at $1,038/mt
• Baltics down by $27/mt to $959/mt

Rotterdam

Rotterdam's LNG bunker price has fallen by $27/mt over the past week to $853/mt, driven largely by a 7% decline in LNG bunker premiums, which dropped from around $134/mt, to $125/mt.

The front-month Dutch TTF Natural Gas contract, Europe's benchmark gas price, also eased by 2%, adding further downward pressure to LNG bunker prices.

“LNG ships have started passing through the Strait of Hormuz again and even though it will take several weeks before the ships reach their destinations, the gas market is obviously relieved,” market intelligence firm Mind Energy said.

“Natural gas prices… Europe were also lower on signs of easing supply shortages,” ANZ Bank's senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes echoed.

“Abundant supply from the Norwegian continental shelf,” has also weighed on LNG prices, the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) said.

Meanwhile, EU underground gas storage levels climbed to 48% on 26 June, up from 46.1% a week earlier. Despite the increase, storage remained 16.7% below the level recorded during the same period last year, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe.

Singapore

Singapore's LNG bunker price has risen by $11/mt over the past week. The increase came “amid escalating tensions alongside progress in US-Iran peace negotiations, as well as following a gas-related facility explosion in Qatar,” according to JOGMEC.

Rising LNG demand across Asia has also lent support to prices.

“Asia's LNG imports surged… in the first half of June, potentially indicating a more aggressive return of Asian buyers amid the start of the cooling season,” said Greg Molnár, gas analyst at the International Energy Agency.

Across Asia, major LNG importers including Japan and South Korea typically increase purchases during the summer months compared with spring to meet higher electricity demand driven by greater air conditioning use. Temperatures across the region generally rise from June through September.

“Stronger LNG imports are likely supported by Asia's surging cooling needs amid the summer heatwaves, and hence more electricity demand,” Molnár added.

Singapore's LNG bunker price tracked gains in the NYMEX Japan/Korea Marker (JKM), with the front-month contract climbing by $0.22/MMBtu ($11/mt) to $15.53/MMBtu ($808/mt).

As a result, Singapore’s LNG bunker price premium over Rotterdam widened, rising from $147/mt last week, to $185/mt this week.

Elsewhere in the LNG bunkering sector, Taiwanese container shipping company Yang Ming Marine Transport (Yang Ming) has taken delivery of a new LNG dual-fuel container ship.

Pacific International Lines (PIL) has announced that two of its newly named LNG dual-fuel container vessels will be deployed on the Asia–South America trade route.

Nordic biogas producer St1 Biokraft will supply liquefied biomethane (LBM) to Destination Gotland's ferry services during the summer season and Sweden's Almedalen Week 2026.

Meanwhile, bunker supplier Axpo has completed a ship-to-ship bio-LNG bunkering operation in Barcelona for a vessel operated by Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL).

By Tuhin Roy

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