In the day-ahead market on JEPX (Japan Electric Power Exchange), the 24-hour spot power prices on a weekly average basis for Feb 16-20 delivery retreated from the week before for East Japan (50 Hz) and West Japan (60 Hz). Higher temperatures than a week before decreased demand for heating, influencing prices. The areas westbound from Kanto experienced a sunny spell on many days, causing ample outputs from photovoltaic power plants. As a result, more areas recorded Yen sub-10 during the daytime.

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) connected the 1356 MW No. 6 unit (ABWR = Advanced Boiling Water Reactor) at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station, located in Kashiwazaki City in Niigata Prefecture, to power grids on Feb 16. TEPCO planned to start a commercial operation on Mar 18 at the unit, which had been reactivated on Feb 9.

The spread of the 24-hour spot average between Tokyo and Kansai, a major market area in East and West Japan, was Yen 0.78 on Feb 16, Yen 1.31 on Feb 17, Yen 0.64 on Feb 18, Yen 0.19 on Feb 19, and Yen 0.54 in Feb 20 in favor of Tokyo.

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

DES Northeast Asia spot LNG prices on Feb 19 hovered in the mid-$10's per mmBtu for prompt March 2026 delivery, slightly down from Feb 13. Prices followed the natural gas market in Europe. Moreover, a tepid market due to the Chinese Lunar Year holiday season weighed on prices. The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) announced on Feb 18 that Japan's LNG inventories for power generation stood at 2.00 mil mt as of Feb 15, up 110,000 mt from a week before. The figure was below the end of February last year (2.03 mil mt) and the average for the past five years (2.14 mil mt).

FOB Newcastle thermal coal prices in Australia were at around the mid-$116s per ton for February 2026 loading as of Feb 19, down around $0.5 from the end of the previous week, owing to the subdued market during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday.

In the crude oil market, WTI crude for March 2026 stood at mid- $66's per barrel at 8AM on Feb 20, while Brent crude for April 2026 was trading in the high-$71s. Prices rose by around $3.5 from the end of the previous week for WTI and by $4.2 for Brent. The market in the first half of the week was softened; however, a possible massive strike against Iran by the US Trump administration, which was reported on Feb 18, raised the futures price rapidly.

The actual highest price during the week was at Yen 15.30 in four areas from Hokkaido through Chubu on Feb 17; the actual lowest price during the week was at Yen 0.01 in Shikoku on Feb 16 & 18 and in Kyushu on Feb 17-20.

The weekly average of the 24-hour spot prices by area and the weekly average volume of offers, bids, and trades are shown in the table below. Low demand for heating and more output from photovoltaic power plants sent prices in nine areas lower than those last week. The volume of offers increased from last week, but that of bids, along with traded volume, decreased.

Power demand in nine areas of Japan during Feb 16-20 was a combined 13,317.94 mil kWh, down 7.0% from 14,317.66 mil kWh during Feb 9-13. The figure was down 6.9% from the corresponding period a year earlier, which was 14,309.36 mil kWh during Feb 17-21, 2025, after day-of-week adjustment.

Deals reported on TOCOM (Tokyo Commodity Exchange) during Feb 16-20 were as below.

Deals reported on EEX (European Energy Exchange) during Feb 16-20 were as below.

Prices for the final week in February were expected to fall further from the third week. The comfortable spring weather was expected throughout the week, curbing heating demand. On Feb 23, the emperor's birthday holiday, demand would weaken further with high temperatures of over 20 degrees in Tokyo. However, the weather forecast was calling for rainy conditions across the country, which would likely keep prices from falling to extraordinarily low levels, such as Yen 0.01 during the daytime, through limited solar outputs. Asked about the price outlook for the final week of February, a source at a power producer and supplier said, "With the arrival of spring-like weather in wide areas all at once, base load prices in Tokyo will go below Yen 10 on many days, I guess. For Kansai, they will be Yen 0.5-1.0 lower than those in Tokyo."