In the day-ahead market on JEPX (Japan Electric Power Exchange), the 24-hour spot power prices on a weekly average basis for Oct 27-31 delivery fell from the previous week in East Japan (50 Hz) as well as in West Japan (60 Hz). In East Japan, Hokkaido saw a large fall in prices owing to easing cold temperatures as well as the restart of the 569.4 MW No. 1 unit at the Hokkaido Electric Power Co (HEPCO)'s Ishikariwan-shinko LNG-fired power plant, which had been halted since Jul 1. In West Japan, low air conditioning demand derived from easing hot temperatures as well as plenty of outputs from photovoltaic power plants pushed prices down.

The spread of the 24-hour spot average between Tokyo and Kansai, a major market area in East and West Japan, was Yen 3.34 on Oct 27, Yen 3.64 on Oct 28, Yen 3.57 on Oct 29, Yen 2.20 on Oct 30, and Yen 1.13 on Oct 31 in favor of the East.

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

DES Northeast Asia spot LNG prices on Oct 30 stayed flat from the end of last week (Oct 24) at low-$11's per mmBtu for prompt December 2025 delivery. The price moved in the same way as those in the natural gas markets in Europe. Buying interests from end-users in Northeast Asia remained weak, putting a lid on prices. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced on Oct 29 that Japan's LNG inventories for power generation stood at 1.97 mil mt as of Oct 26, down 160,000 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 high-$108's per ton for October 2025 loading as of Oct 30, up by $1 from the end of the previous week.

In the crude oil market, WTI crude for December 2025 stood in the low $60's per barrel at 1PM on Oct 31, while Brent crude for December 2025 was trading at mid $64's. Prices dropped by about $1 from the end of the previous week for WTI and Brent. Further possible production increases by OPEC Plus in combination with the implication of limited impacts of the sanctions against Russia by Western countries worked as bearish sentiments.

The actual highest price during the week was at Yen 32.54 in Hokkaido on Oct 29; the actual lowest price during the week was at Yen 0.01 in Kyushu on Oct 27, in Shikoku & Kyushu on Oct 28, in Chugoku, Shikoku, & Kyushu on Oct 29, and in Kyushu on Oct 30.

By area, the weekly average of the 24-hour spot prices was at Yen 13.03 in Hokkaido, down Yen 5.15 from the previous week; Yen 11.78 in Tohoku, down Yen 1.95; Yen 13.07 in Tokyo, down Yen 1.52; Yen 11.47 in Chubu, up Yen 0.38; Yen 10.30 in Hokuriku and Kansai, down Yen 0.31; Yen 9.93 in Chugoku, down Yen 0.66; Yen 7.73 in Shikoku, down Yen 2.39; and Yen 9.32 in Kyushu, down Yen 1.26.

In the JEPX auction, the volume of offers was 1,020.79 mil kWh on a weekly average basis, up 6.0% from the previous week. Meanwhile, bids on a weekly average basis were up 2.0% to 952.66 mil kWh. The weekly average of trade volumes recorded 729.60 mil kWh, up 4.8%.

Power demand in nine areas of Japan during Oct 27-31 was a combined 10,565.79 mil kWh, up 0.7% from 10,494.08 mil kWh during Oct 20-24. The figure was up 1.4% from the corresponding period a year earlier, which was 10,421.71 mil kWh during Oct 28-Nov 1, 2024, after day-of-week adjustment.

Deals reported on TOCOM (Tokyo Commodity Exchange) during Oct 27-31 were as below.

Deals reported on EEX (European Energy Exchange) during Oct 27-31 were as below.

※As of 7:00 on November 3, the detailed breakdown of the October 31 transaction is unknown. The October 31 price is settlement price.

Prices for the first week in November would likely fluctuate, hinging on weather. On Nov 3, prices will be weak due to national holiday and a sunny spell in and to the west of Kanto; on Nov 4, they will swing between daytime and dusk onwards, given high temperatures (bull factor) and plenty of outputs from photovoltaic power plants during daytime(bear factor); on Nov 5-6, they will likely rise during daytime owing to cloudy weather outlook, which will cut supply from photovoltaic power plants; and on Nov 7, they will be affected by a sunny spell forecast across the country, which will lead to ample outputs from photovoltaic power plants, and expected strong air condition demand which will be derived from temperatures of over 20 degrees in and to the west of Kanto, including 25 degrees in Kyushu. "The number of thermal power plants that are under maintenance is still not small, so weather matters for prices. I guess base load prices in Tokyo will hover at Yen 12.00-14.00 and that in Kansai will show a larger range between Yen 9.00 and 13.00," a source at a power producer and supplier said.