LNG Bunker Snapshot: Singapore bunker price falls on JKM and premiums

Singapore-ARA spread narrows to $210/mt

TTF rises on Hormuz and supply worries

JKM falls as Hormuz reopening hopes rise

Weekly changes in LNG bunker prices:

• Rotterdam up by $7/mt to $1,129/mt
• Singapore down by $32/mt to $1,339/mt
• Baltics up by $8/mt to $1,234/mt

Rotterdam

Rotterdam’s delivered LNG bunker price has remained broadly stable week on week, as a lower bunker delivery premium was largely offset by a stronger front-month Dutch TTF Natural Gas contract.

The LNG bunker delivery premium in the ARA fell by $0.16/MMBtu to $1.89/MMBtu, equivalent to $99/mt, while the front-month Dutch TTF Natural Gas contract rose by $0.30/MMBtu to $19.82/MMBtu, equivalent to $1,031/mt.

The rally in TTF prices was driven by “renewed concerns over shipping risks in the Strait, lower Norwegian gas flows, and reduced wind generation, with short-covering providing additional support,” according to the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC).

"...shipping companies will require a sustained period of calm before making the journey through the key waterway," said ANZ Bank's senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes, pointing to attacks on Qatari LNG tankers in July despite a peace deal signed in June.

“Low storages, heat waves and droughts weigh on the market and limits the downside,” Mind Energy said.

“A prolonged heatwave across Europe has lifted cooling demand and tightened regional power balances, while temperatures of up to 6°C above normal are expected across southern Europe in the coming days,” said Antonia Syn, analyst at Rystad Energy’s Gas & LNG Research.

The EU's underground gas storage facilities were 59% full on 9 August, up from 57% a week earlier. Stored volumes were 18% lower than a year earlier, when facilities were 71% full, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe.

Singapore

Singapore's LNG bunker price has fallen on a weaker JKM and a narrower delivery premium, which has eased from $256/mt to $241/mt.

Asian LNG bunker prices typically track the NYMEX Japan/Korea Marker (JKM), which has fallen by $0.33/MMBtu ($17/mt) to $21.12/MMBtu ($1,098/mt), adding further downward pressure on Singapore's LNG bunker price.

Singapore's LNG bunker price premium over Rotterdam has narrowed from $249/mt to $210/mt over the past week, with Singapore falling and Rotterdam edging higher.

JKM's decline came "as fears of supply disruptions from the Middle East receded and spot demand remained subdued" earlier in the week, according to JOGMEC.

“Natural gas in… Asia fell on rising hopes of a deal that would see the Strait of Hormuz reopened,” ANZ Bank’s Hynes said.

Meanwhile, “in southern China, heavy rainfall following a typhoon in Guangdong province has lowered temperatures and boosted hydropower output. This should reduce cooling demand and limit gas-fired generation,” Rystad Energy’s Syn said.

Elsewhere in the LNG bunkering sector, global cruise operator Carnival Corporation has identified LNG as its preferred fuel for its long-term fleet strategy, citing the lack of commercially available zero-emission alternatives.

Belgian shipping company Exmar is set to convert an LNG carrier into a floating transshipment unit (FTU) for the LNG bunkering market.

Muar LNG’s bunker hub at Malaysia’s Maharani Freeport is “taking shape” and will provide wharf-to-ship LNG bunkering for vessels of all types, according to the company’s founder and technical director, Hans Hvide.

Shipping firm Huajing LNG Transport (HLT) has taken delivery of the first of six LNG dual-fuel vessels being developed for Chinese state-owned energy company CNOOC Group.

Indian state-owned Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) has invited bids to build up to six LNG dual-fuel container vessels.

MSC-owned cruise line Explora Journeys has added an LNG dual-fuel cruise ship to its fleet.

Shanghai Port has surpassed 2 million cbm (about 894,000 mt) in cumulative LNG bunker sales since LNG bunker operations were launched in 2022.

Athens-headquartered shipping company Atlas Maritime has taken delivery of Clean Star, a new LNG dual-fuel pure car and truck carrier (PCTC).

By Tuhin Roy

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