--DES Northeast Asia
DES Northeast Asia spot prices lost. Prices for the main discussion period of second-half May delivery were at $3.00-3.10, softening from early March by 20-30cts. While Qatargas had plenty of supply, Japanese and Korean end-users withheld from buying owing to the COVID-19 outbreak and supply/demand fundamentals slackened. In China, plants resumed operation in many areas since mid-March. Demand for both LNG and pipeline gas was recovering. Although Chinese independent energy companies were moving to buy LNG on a spot basis, supply/demand fundamentals did not stop loosening.

--FOB Atlantic, DES Europe and South America
Many players held bearish sentiment on the DES Europe market. With Brent crude prices falling sharply, natural gas prices from Russia would also drop. Owing to COVID-19, economic activities in Europe were expected to slow down. Besides Italy and France, COVID-19 was spreading to other European countries, leading to measures restricting movements. Demand for energy including gas and LNG was anticipated to fall. Surplus cargoes from the US, Russia and other areas in the Atlantic were being sent to Europe at present as a last resort but Europe might not be able to absorb these cargoes going forward.

--FOB Middle East, DES South Asia and the Middle East
Supply from Qatargas was plentiful, offering eight cargoes available for April loading and three cargoes for May loading to Northeast Asian and European end-users. Indian state-owned companies and some other end-users postponed their intake of long-term cargoes from Qatargas. As a result, Qatargas had a number of surplus cargoes.