Japanese imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) reportedly hit their highest in at least five years in January.

Japan, the world’s largest LNG buyer, imported nearly 8.7 million tonnes last month, up 8 percent from December and the largest volume since at least January, 2013, according to report on Thursday by Reuters.

Rising LNG shipments are expected to continue this month as freezing weather keeps its grip on Japan, the new agency said.

That upturn is piling further pressure on the region’s spot LNG markets, which marked three-year highs last month as China rushed to snap up cargoes for its drive to use gas to heat millions of homes and power thousands of factories, it said.

To remind, Japan increased its imports of the fuel in 2017, for the first time in three years.

The country imported 83.63 million tonnes million mt of LNG in the January-December period, a rise of 0.4 percent as compared to the year before.

Imports of LNG for power generation mainly rose due to nuclear shutdowns as only three out of 42 operable nuclear reactors are currently running in Japan.

LNG World News Staff