In the day-ahead market on JEPX (Japan Electric Power Exchange), the 24-hour spot power prices on a weekly average basis for Oct 20-24 delivery extended gains from the previous week in East Japan (50 Hz) as well as in West Japan (60 Hz). Prices in East Japan were led by a larger rise in Hokkaido, where coldness was intensified sharply, along with snowfall, increasing demand for heating. In Hokkaido, the maintenance work at the Hokkaido-Honshu Line, which impeded power generated in Honshu from flowing into, as well as much maintenance at thermal power plants, including the Ishikariwan-shinko, LNG-fired power plant, tightened a supply/demand balance in power rapidly. Indeed, the mean price in the area on Oct 23 was Yen 23.48, such as recording Yen 80.00 from 19:30 to 20:00 on the day. In Tokyo, the mean price on Oct 22 rose to Yen 18.66 due to the outage of three LNG-fired power plants in Tokyo and Chiba from Oct 20 to 24. In West Japan, on the other hand, the arrival of easing hot temperatures finally, along with ample outputs from photovoltaic power plants, lowered prices.

The 24-hour spot average between Tokyo and Kansai, a major market area in East and West Japan, was Yen 1.57 on Oct 20, Yen 3.26 on Oct 21, Yen 6.49 on Oct 22, Yen 4.73 on Oct 23, and Yen 3.87 on Oct 24.

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

DES Northeast Asia spot LNG prices on Oct 23 edged lower from the end of last week (Oct 17) to low-$11's per mmBtu for prompt December 2025 delivery. The softened natural gas markets in Europe lowered the DES Northeast Asia LNG market. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced on Oct 22 that Japan's LNG inventories for power generation stood at 2.13 mil mt as of Oct 19, up 200,000 mt from a week before. The figure was above the end of October last year (1.84 mil mt) and the average for the past five years (2.03 mil mt).

FOB Newcastle thermal coal prices in Australia were in the low-$104's per ton for October 2025 loading as of Oct 23, down by $1 or less from the end of the previous week.

In the crude oil market, WTI crude for December 2025 stood in the mid $61's per barrel at noon on Oct 24, while Brent crude for December 2025 was trading at mid $65's. Prices gained by over $4 from the end of the previous week for WTI and Brent. A decrease in US crude inventories and the new sanction by Western countries against Russia worked as a bullish sentiment.

The actual highest price during the week was at Yen 80.00 in Hokkaido on Oct 23, marking the first Yen 80's since Dec 13, when the Chubu area touched on Dec 13 last year; the actual lowest price during the week was at Yen 1.00 in Shikoku on Oct 24.

By area, the weekly average of the 24-hour spot prices was at Yen 18.18 in Hokkaido, up Yen 2.93 from the previous week; Yen 13.73 in Tohoku, up Yen 0.27; Yen 14.59 in Tokyo, up Yen 0.51; Yen 11.09 in Chubu, down Yen 2.43; Yen 10.61 in Hokuriku and Kansai, down Yen 3.24; Yen 10.59 in Chugoku, down Yen 3.26; Yen 10.12 in Shikoku, up Yen 0.13; and Yen 10.58 in Kyushu, down Yen 3.14.

In the JEPX auction, the volume of offers was 963.13 mil kWh on a weekly average basis, up 4.7% from the previous week. Meanwhile, bids on a weekly average basis were down 6.9% to 933.79 mil kWh. The weekly average of trade volumes recorded 696.23 mil kWh, down 3.7%.

Power demand in nine areas of Japan during Oct 20-24 was a combined 10,494.08 mil kWh, down 1.9% from 10,700.61 mil kWh during Oct 6-10. The figure was up/down 1.1% from the corresponding period a year earlier, which was 10,608.64 mil kWh during Oct 21-25, 2024, after day-of-week adjustment.

Deals reported on TOCOM (Tokyo Commodity Exchange) during Oct 20-24 were as below.

Deals reported on EEX (European Energy Exchange) during Oct 20-24 were as below.

Prices for the final week in October would likely weaken from the fourth week. With plenty of outputs from photovoltaic power plants amid a sunny spell except for Hokkaido, prices would be pressured down. Prices during the daytime, however, would be supported by a gap between supply and demand in power, especially in the dusk when photovoltaic power halts operation, along with maintenance of thermal power plants. In Hokkaido, a price spike would likely not happen because temperatures were expected to rise from the fourth week of October. "Weather in East and West Japan will put a lid on prices next week. Unless there are unplanned outages, base load prices in Tokyo will hover at Yen 12-13 and those in Kansai at around Yen 10," a source at a power producer and supplier said.