--DES Northeast Asia

In Northeast Asia led by Japan, lower temperatures curbed power demand, leaving gas demand weak for power generation. In Japan, the highest temperature fell below 30 degrees in broad areas and the lowest temperature also slipped below 20 degrees from place to place. Under the circumstances, the peak demand in Tokyo was capped at 35.60GW on Sep 24, staying low in the 30GW level since Sep 19. In addition, power demand in Tokyo in September on an accumulated basis was seen 2.8% below the corresponding period a year before. On top of that, buying interest was also discouraged by perceptions that the current spot market was far from undervalued. Based on the latest Brent crude oil prices, import costs for Brent-linked term cargoes hovered in the $9 level, highlighting the spot market's lack of price competitiveness. A source at a Japanese enterprise said, "We have healthy inventory levels, and we don't have to dare to procure a chunk of spot cargoes at high prices." But the current spot market for prompt delivery stood at $2.00-3.00 below the corresponding period a year earlier, so that not everyone regarded spot cargoes as overpriced. Meanwhile, LNG demand for city gas remained solid. Many factories may be running a bit lower rates on the back of the US tariff policy. But a source at a city gas company said, "We don't see any visible change in our gas sales for the industrial sector."

--FOB Middle East, DES South Asia and the Middle East

Discussions bound for end-users in South Asia remained at the low ebb. In India, no fresh deals were reported from Indian end-users since independent power company Torrent Power had procured a cargo to be delivered to the 17.50 mil mt/year Dahej terminal on Nov 1-30 via its tender closed on Sep 17. For prompt delivery cargoes, as reported, state-owned Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) had bought a cargo for Oct 10-20 delivery to the 5.00 mil mt/year Mundra terminal at $11.34 via its tender closed on Aug 26.

--FOB Atlantic, DES Europe and South America

State-run Angola LNG issued a sell tender on a DES basis. The tender could close on Oct 1 with bids valid through Oct 2. The tender offered one cargo for late October to early November delivery to South America, Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, with Indonesia designated as the easternmost destination. Angola LNG would take delivery of the cargo in 160,400 cubic meter DFDE tanker "Malanje".