--DES Northeast Asia

Most end-users in Northeast Asia still seemed to have thin interest in spot procurement. The spot market were softening, and the May and June contracts of DES Northeast Asia spot quotes showed a steep backwardation in derivatives. Therefore, according to a Chinese end-user, "Buyers refrain from entering into talks until prices hit the bottom." Japanese companies, in particular, which have a low dependence on the Middle East, apparently met their demand with term cargoes as well as inventories on hand. A Japanese city gas company stated, "The high dependence on Middle Eastern gas is a localized issue, and as these companies are large-scale, they can manage it through their portfolio cargoes. We see that all the Japanese companies covering most of their demand with term cargoes have low dependency on Middle Eastern LNG." With temperatures currently high in Japan, electricity demand was also weak. According to market sources, nationwide electricity demand in the first half of April fell by around 4% compared with the same period last year, which was equivalent to one LNG cargo. Meanwhile, power generation demand for air-conditioning was expected to start rising earlier than normal this year. Indeed, some sources have already switched on air conditioning in their offices. There were also views that if spot prices fell to the $14's, buyers might feel the market affordable and might consider spot purchase.

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

Bangladeshi state-run Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Co Ltd (RPGCL) bought two cargoes for May 12-13 and 14-15 delivery at $18.00 or above via its tender closed on Apr 13.

--FOB Atlantic, DES Europe and South America

In Turkey, state-run Botas was said to be processing a buy tender. Behind the move was seen a halt of gas supply from Iran. Details remained to be seen, but the tender apparently drew offers in the $20 level. A European analyst pointed out, "Turkey has high country risks or default risks as South Asia and Egypt, and I can well understand a cautious bidding behavior among sellers."