*Latest LNG import data show that term prices continue to fall even as spot prices edge higher. South Korea paid an average of $5.21/mn BTU for September imports, the lowest since 2004. Taiwan paid just $4.93/mn BTU, also a 16-year low. But Asian spot price assessments continue to edge higher and are now significantly above prices in oil-linked term contracts. The latest Reuters assessment is at $5.80/mn BTU for December delivery, the highest since February.
*In volume terms Korea imported 28.48mn tons for the first nine months of 2020, down 2% year on year. The fall would have been greater were it not for near record imports at the start of the year. At just 7.29mn tons, Q3 saw a four-year quarterly low, though there was the first sign of a post-Covid rebound in September – at 2.95mn tons, last month saw the first year-on-year rise since March (see table, and chart 1). (CONTINUED - 775 WORDS)
