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Asian area LNG rate bit altered on muted need

Asian spot melted natural gas (LNG) prices were little bit altered this week amid tepid demand and limited market activity with lots of traders going to an market conference in the United States.

The average LNG price for November delivery into north-east Asia << LNG-AS > was at $13.10 per million British thermal units ( mmBtu), a little below $13.20/ mmBtu recently, market sources approximated.

Costs are expected to stay steady in the coming week as supply continues to recover, despite seasonal cooling demand in north-east Asia, stated Charles Costerousse, senior LNG analyst at information analytics firm Kpler.

The supply scenario in Asia still looks comfy with the shoulder months (in between a peak and off-peak season) and less temperature-related need. Still, storages across Asia are fairly complete, denting any re-stocking demand for the coming winter season, stated Klaas Dozeman, market analyst at Brainchild Product Intelligence.

In south and south-east Asia, extra need has actually been emerging, with Indian and Thai companies amongst those concerning the market for near-term shipments, although Indian demand is likely to subside on weaker power demand and late monsoon rains, stated Samuel Good, head of LNG rates at commodity prices firm Argus.

In Europe, the benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF gas hub has actually broken an upwards trend and went into a more neutral stage, stated Hans van Cleef, primary energy financial expert at PZ Energy Research Study & & Technique.

He added that this is partly due to European inventories being well-filled, with more than one month to go of the regular filling season.

S&P Global Product Insights examined its day-to-day North West Europe LNG Marker (NWM) price criteria for cargoes delivered in November on an ex-ship (DES) basis at $10.985/ mmBtu on Sept. 19, a $0.22/ mmBtu discount rate to the November gas rate at the Dutch TTF center.

Argus assessed the cost for November delivery at $ 11.000/ mmBtu, while Glow Commodities assessed the October price at $10.650/ mmBtu.

In LNG freight, Atlantic prices increased for the first time in 6 weeks to $59,750/ day on Friday, whereas the Pacific rates declined for the sixth week running to $73,000/ day, said Glow Products expert Qasim Afghan.

Argus' Excellent said that there has been little competition from Europe for Atlantic LNG, adding that high vessel schedule and a lack of incentive for massive drifting storage continue to tax the area charter market, keeping a. lid on rates.

(source: Reuters)