--DES Northeast Asia

Some buyers apparently began to seek alternative cargoes for Qatari ones. JERA seemed interested in spot procurement for April to May delivery. South Korean buyers as well as Taiwan's CPC Corp were said to contemplate buying alternative cargoes. JERA imports 700,000mt/year of Qatari cargoes through its term contract and CPC also covers an about 30% of the total import. As end-users in Northeast Asia did not have low inventories, spot demand for building up inventories was not strong at the moment. However, sources were keeping eyes on the future movement of companies taking long-term cargoes from Qatar, such as Kansai Electric Power Co, Tohoku Electric Power Co, Japan Petroleum Exploration Co (JAPEX) and Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS). China was said to be requesting Iran to lift the disruption at the Strait of Hormuz. In addition, a source stated, "Since US ExxonMobil takes 10.00 mil mt/year from Qatar, we focus on their next step." Besides that, several traders and portfolio players rushing into covering their short-positions.

--FOB Middle East, DES South Asia and the Middle East

Bangladesh's state-owned Rupantari Prakritik Gas Ltd (RPGCL) issued a tender to buy a combined two cargoes for Mar 15-16 and Mar 18-19 delivery on a DES basis. The date of tender closing and cargo destination remain sketchy. RPGCL invited offers on a fixed price basis.

--FOB Atlantic, DES Europe and South America

In the spot market, state-run Angola LNG floated a sell tender that would close on Thursday on a DES basis. Offered in the tender as a cargo from the 5.20 mil mt/year Angola project for late March to early April delivery with the easternmost destination in India.