In the day-ahead market on JEPX (Japan Electric Power Exchange), the 24-hour spot power prices on a weekly average basis for Jan 26-30 delivery gained further in East Japan (50 Hz) and in West Japan (60 Hz) from the week before. The strong prices were witnessed on Jan 26; along with the high prices of Yen 45.01 from Hokkaido through Chubu and Yen 30.00 from Hokuriku through Kyushu, the 24-hour mean prices reached Yen 16.77 for Hokkaido, Yen 16.42 for Tohoku & Tokyo, Yen 16.08 for Chubu, Yen 15.23 for Hokuriku, Yen 14.98 for Kansai & Chugoku, Yen 14.28 for Shikoku, and Yen 14.74 for Kyushu. Prices on Jan 27 and onwards, however, stumbled. Seeing the price variation through the week, a source at a power producer and supplier said, "A trend of strong prices on Monday and weak prices on Tuesday and onwards has often been seen, and prices on Jan 26 were a typical application of the trend. Players that place bids for delivery on Monday usually join the auction during the weekend; in such a case, in order to avoid imbalance charges, the players tend to submit bids at higher than usual. On Jan 26, in combination with the influence of a cold spell and troubles at thermal power plants, the equilibrium price was hiked dramatically." Indeed, after Jan 27 and onwards, the market did not present many variations.

The spread of the 24-hour spot average between Tokyo and Kansai, a major market area in East and West Japan, was Yen 1.44 on Jan 26, Yen 1.34 on Jan 27, Yen 0.75 on Jan 28, Yen 1.25 on Jan 29, and Yen 0.31 on Jan 30 in favor of the East.

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

DES Northeast Asia spot LNG prices on Jan 29 hovered at the mid-$11's per mmBtu for prompt March 2026 delivery, down around $0.10 from Jan 23. Prices followed the natural gas markets in Europe. In the US and Europe, demand for gas has been solid owing to a cold spell, and prices have been kept at a high level. In Northeast Asia, despite low temperatures, plenty of inventories limited demand for spot procurement. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced on Jan 28 that Japan's LNG inventories for power generation stood at 2.26 mil mt as of Jan 25, down 30,000 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 high-$111's per ton for February 2026 loading as of Jan 29, slightly up around 20cts from the end of the previous week.

In the crude oil market, WTI crude for March 2026 stood in the mid-$64's per barrel at noon on Jan 30, while Brent crude for March 2026 was trading in the mid-$69s. Prices gained by around $3.5 from the end of the previous week for WTI and Brent. The tension in the Iran situation raised prices, along with a decrease in crude inventories in the US.

The actual highest price during the week was at Yen 45.01 in four areas from Hokkaido through Chubu on Jan 26; the actual lowest price during the week was at Yen 6.46 in Shikoku on Jan 26.

The weekly average of the 24-hour spot prices by area, the weekly average volume of offers, bids, and trades were shown in the table below. Prices rose from the previous week in all nine areas. The volume of offers, bids, and trades grew as well.

Power demand in nine areas of Japan during Jan 26-30 was a combined 14,934.64 mil kWh, up 2.1% from 14,622.39 mil kWh during Jan 19-23. The figure was up/down 6.9% from the corresponding period a year earlier, which was 13,975.22 mil kWh during Jan 27-31, 2025, after day-of-week adjustment.

Deals reported on TOCOM (Tokyo Commodity Exchange) during Jan 26-30 were as below.

Deals reported on EEX (European Energy Exchange) during Jan 26-30 were as below.

Prices for the first week in February were expected to soften compared with the final week in January. Higher temperatures were expected during the first week in February than the final week in January, including possible high temperatures of around 15 degrees Celsius in the middle of the week in the areas westbound from Kanto, which would curb demand for heating and then affect prices. In the latter half of the week, however, cloudy weather was forecasted nationwide, which would work to raise prices through the reduction in the outputs from photovoltaic power plants. Asked about the piece outlook for the first week in February, a source at a power producer and supplier said, "The base load prices will be below Yen 13.00 in Tokyo on many days, owing to weather. In Kansai, the prices will hover at Yen 0.5-1.0 lower than those in Tokyo.