In the day-ahead market on JEPX (Japan Electric Power Exchange), the 24-hour spot power prices on a weekly average basis for Jan 19-23 delivery rebounded in East Japan (50 Hz) and in West Japan (60 Hz) from the week before. The mean prices during the week were over Yen 2.00 higher than the previous week in every area except the Tokyo and Chubu areas. The weather forecast released urgently by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) on Jan 19 indicated that heavy snow would last for a long time in the areas mainly on the Japan Sea coast side from North to West Japan owing to a spell of the strong winter pressure patterns in the vicinity of Japan from around Jan 21 to 25. As a result, demand for power grew by 6% from a week earlier, with more than 10% growth in many areas. Indeed, in the JEPX auction for Jan 21-22 delivery, the volume of bids surpassed that of offers for the first time since Nov 13, 2025. Despite such a tight supply/demand balance in power, however, prices did not soar. In the market, " stable supply plays a crucial role in the stable prices. Thus, unless an inclement cold spell comes, a price spike will not occur in the market, as forecasted before," a source at a power producer and supplier said.

The spread of the 24-hour spot average between Tokyo and Kansai, a major market area in East and West Japan, was Yen 3.37 on Jan 19, Yen 1.39 on Jan 20, Yen 2.08 on Jan 21, & Yen 0.20 on Jan 22 in favor of the East, and Yen 0.41 in favor of the West on Jan 23.

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

DES Northeast Asia spot LNG prices on Jan 22 hovered at the mid-$11's per mmBtu for prompt March 2026 delivery, up over $2.00 from Jan 16. In Europe, natural gas markets surged owing to the low temperatures, sending the DES Northeast Asia LNG market higher. A cold spell stimulated demand in the DES Northeast Asia market, too; however, plenty of inventories mitigated demand for spot procurement. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced on Jan 21 that Japan's LNG inventories for power generation stood at 2.29 mil mt as of Jan 18, up 10,000 mt from a week before. The figure was below the end of January last year (2.41 mil mt) but above the average for the past five years (2.05 mil mt).

FOB Newcastle thermal coal prices in Australia were at mid-$112's per ton for February 2026 loading as of Jan 22, up around $1.00 from the end of the previous week. Prices followed the strong gas markets.

In the crude oil market, WTI crude for March 2026 stood in the mid-$59's per barrel at 8AM on Jan 23, while Brent crude for March 2026 was trading in the mid-$64s. Prices gained by around 30cts from the end of the previous week for WTI and Brent. While the trade conflicts between Europe and the US, derived from the Greenland-related tariff to be imposed on eight countries in Europe by the US on Feb 1, worked as a bearish factor, the calling off of the tariff by the US sent the crude market higher, along with supply worries from Kazakhstan, where a fire occurred in its oil fields.

The actual highest price during the week was at Yen 50.00 in Hokkaido on Jan 19; the actual lowest price during the week was at Yen 0.01 in Shikoku on Jan 19, which contrasted the price movement between North and West Japan.

By area, the weekly average of the 24-hour spot prices was at Yen 16.91 in Hokkaido, up Yen 5.21 from the previous week; Yen 13.43 in Tohoku, up Yen 2.04; Yen 13.45 in Tokyo, up Yen 1.69; Yen 13.00 in Chubu, up Yen 1.41; Yen 12.23 in Hokuriku, up Yen 2.59; Yen 11.92 in Kansai, up Yen 2.39; Yen 11.92 in Chugoku, up Yen 2.45; Yen 9.68 in Shikoku, up Yen 2.11; and Yen 11.78 in Kyushu, up Yen 2.43.

In the JEPX auction, the volume of offers was 1,180.25 mil kWh on a weekly average basis, down 5.7% from the previous week. Meanwhile, bids on a weekly average basis were up 5.6% to 1,127.24 mil kWh. The weekly average of trade volumes recorded 857.55 mil kWh, up 4.4%.

Power demand in nine areas of Japan during Jan 19-23 was a combined 14,622.39 mil kWh, up 6.5% from 13,732.11 mil kWh during Jan 12-16. The figure was up 10.3% from the corresponding period a year earlier, which was 13,260.68 mil kWh during Jan 20-24, 2025, after day-of-week adjustment.

Deals reported on TOCOM (Tokyo Commodity Exchange) during Jan 19-23 were as below.

Deals reported on EEX (European Energy Exchange) during Jan 19-23 were as below.

　Prices for the final week in January would hover at the same level as those for the fourth week. While coldness might be eased compared with the fourth week, usually the chilliest in winter, high temperatures would be at around 10 degrees, enough cold, in and to the west of the Kanto area, keeping a high level of heating demand. For weather conditions, situations would be almost the same, leading to outputs from photovoltaic power plants to some extent. Asked about the price outlook for the final week in January, a source at a power producer and supplier said, "Base load prices will move at Yen 13's for Tokyo and at either the same or a little bit lower level for Kansai."