In the day-ahead market on JEPX (Japan Electric Power Exchange), the 24-hour spot power prices on a weekly average basis for Oct 13-17 delivery extended gains from the previous week in East Japan (50 Hz) as well as in West Japan (60 Hz). A rise in the mean temperature through the week, including Oct 13, national holiday in Japan, pushed prices up. Following the week before, a spell of summer-like weather with around 30 degrees in West Japan as well as cloudy weather nationwide, which curbed outputs from photovoltaic power plants, worked as a bullish factor.

In the auction at the JEPX during the week, bids exceeded offers by over 100 mil kWh each day except for Oct 13 and 17. Indeed, prices became solid especially on Oct 16, when base load prices recorded Yen 20.22 in Hokkaido, Yen 16.42 in Tohoku & Tokyo, Yen 16.32 in Chubu, Yen 18.56 in Hokuriku, Kansai & Chugoku, Yen 9.77 in Shikoku, and Yen 18.65 in Kyushu. Meanwhile, the monthly average from Oct 1 to 17 was Yen 12.86 for Tokyo and Yen 12.00 for Kansai, above the futures prices in both areas at this moment.

The 24-hour spot average between Tokyo and Kansai, a major market area in East and West Japan, was Yen 1.37 on Oct 13, Yen 0.66 on Oct 14, Yen 0.80 on Oct 15, and Yen 0.46 on Oct 17 in favor of the East, respectively; it was Yen 2.14 in favor of the West on Oct 16.

The fuel market trends in the third week of October were detailed as follows.

DES Northeast Asia spot LNG prices on Oct 16 edged lower from the end of last week (Oct 10) to low-$11's per mmBtu for prompt December 2025 delivery. The natural gas markets in Europe recovered from a drop in the early week, resulting in little change, and so did the LNG market in Northeast Asia. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced on Oct 15 that Japan's LNG inventories for power generation stood at 1.90 mil mt as of Oct 12, up 40,000 mt from a week before. The figure was above the end of October last year (1.84 mil mt) but below the average for the past five years (2.03 mil mt).

FOB Newcastle thermal coal prices in Australia were in the mid-$104's per ton for October 2025 loading as of Oct 16, the same level as the end of the previous week.

In the crude oil market, WTI crude for November 2025 stood in the mid $57's per barrel at 1PM on Oct 16, while Brent crude for December 2025 was trading at around $61's. Prices dipped by roughly $2 from the end of the previous week for WTI and Brent. A loose supply/demand balance outlook released by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its monthly report and trade frictions between the US and China played a role in bearish sentiment.

The actual highest price during the week was at Yen 50.01 in Hokkaido on Oct 15; the actual lowest price during the week was at Yen 0.01 in Shikoku on Oct 17.

By area, the weekly average of the 24-hour spot prices was at Yen 15.25 in Hokkaido, up Yen 5.33 from the previous week; Yen 13.46 in Tohoku, up Yen 2.59; Yen 14.08 in Tokyo, up Yen 1.32; Yen 13.52 in Chubu, up Yen 1.47; Yen 13.85 in Hokuriku and Kansai, up Yen 2.05; Yen 13.85 in Chugoku, up Yen 2.32; Yen 9.99 in Shikoku, up Yen 0.90; and Yen 13.72 in Kyushu, up Yen 2.56.

In the JEPX auction, the volume of offers was 919.63 mil kWh on a weekly average basis, down 14.9% from the previous week. Meanwhile, bids on a weekly average basis were down 13.1% to 1,002.84 mil kWh. The weekly average of trade volumes recorded 723.03 mil kWh, down 5.9%.

Power demand in nine areas of Japan during Oct 13-17 was a combined 10,700.61 mil kWh, down 4.0% from 11,149.08 mil kWh during Oct 6-10. The figure was down 0.4% from the corresponding period a year earlier, which was 10,740.19 mil kWh during Oct 14-18, 2024, after day-of-week adjustment.

Deals reported on TOCOM (Tokyo Commodity Exchange) during Oct 13-17 were as below.

Deals reported on EEX (European Energy Exchange) during Oct 13-17 were as below.

Prices for the fourth week in October would likely soften from the third week, with high expected temperatures being below 20 degrees Celsius, a typical fall temperature, in East Japan and 20-25 degrees, an eased hot temperature, in West Japan. As a result, neither air conditioning nor heaters would be required, affecting prices. At the same time, sunny weather is expected in many places, where plenty of outputs from photovoltaic power plants play a part in curbing prices. Amid this, a source at a power producer and supplier said, "Next week, low temperatures will drop prices; however, in case of troubles at power stations, those will fluctuate. Unless power station troubles, base load in Tokyo will hover at around Yen 13.00, and that in Kansai will move at the same level as Tokyo or slightly lower."