LNG Bunker Snapshot: Singapore’s LNG price moves to premium over Rotterdam

Rotterdam’s LNG bunker price has extended its decline on weaker TTF gas futures amid mild weather and steady supply, while Singapore’s price has eased on subdued market fundamentals.

Weekly changes in LNG bunker prices:

• Rotterdam down by $51/mt to $695/mt
• Singapore down by $12/mt at $733/mt

Rotterdam

Rotterdam’s LNG bunker price has declined for the third consecutive week, following a 6% drop in the front-month Dutch TTF Natural Gas contract, the benchmark for European gas prices. Over the past week, the front-month TTF contract has fallen by $0.71/MMBtu to $10.76/MMBtu.

The decline reflects “forecasts of mild weather and increased wind power generation” as well as “improved supply conditions,” according to the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC).

“European gas prices fell… as the weather forecasts look significantly milder in Central Europe for supply picture, with both stable flows from Norway and LNG deliveries,” said Mind Energy, formerly Energi Danmark.

“European natural gas fell last week as steady supplies kept the market balanced,” ANZ Bank’s senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes added.

EU underground gas storage levels were at 34.4% as of 6 February, compared with 37.4% the previous week and standing 25.4% lower year-on-year, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe.

Singapore

Singapore’s LNG bunker price has declined by $12/mt over the past week.

The drop was driven by “lack of significant changes in market fundamentals and adjustments in the Chinese market ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays,” according to JOGMEC.

The decline aligns with a $0.12/MMBtu fall in the NYMEX Japan/Korea Marker (JKM), which has brought the front-month contract down to $10.99/MMBtu, equivalent to $571/mt.

While Singapore’s LNG bunker price was previously near parity with Rotterdam, it has now moved to a premium of $38/mt this week.

Singapore’s LNG sales fell by 22% in January. Average daily LNG sales declined by around 400 mt to 1,400 mt. Nevertheless, total LNG sales for the month reached nearly 43,000 mt, up from 33,000 mt a year earlier.

Other LNG bunker news

Bahía de Bizkaia Gas, a storage facility jointly owned by the Basque Energy Agency and Spanish energy company Enagás, has begun offering bio-LNG loading services at the Port of Bilbao.

Chinese shipbuilder Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering (CIMC SOE) has secured fresh orders for three LNG bunkering vessels—two with a capacity of 20,000 cbm each and one with a capacity of around 19,000 cbm.

Meanwhile, Danish container shipping group A.P. Moller - Maersk has placed an order for eight large dual-fuel container vessels capable of operating on liquefied natural gas (LNG) with Chinese shipbuilder New Times Shipbuilding.

By Tuhin Roy

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