Spark’s commercial analyst Qasim Afghan told LNG Prime on Friday that the Spark30S (Atlantic) assessment maintained relatively steady at $3,750 per day, and the Spark25S (Pacific) assessment dropped $1,750 per day to reach a new record low of $9,750 per day.
“Spark’s calculated freight rates for 160 vessels in the Atlantic basin remain negative after almost two weeks, with the Spark30-160 (Atlantic) at -$1,500 per day, indicating that shipowner earnings don’t fully cover the fuel expenses associated with ballasting their vessel back to load port for a round-trip voyage in the Atlantic basin,” he said.
US LNG cargoes continue to head to Europe
In Europe, the SparkNWE DES LNG increased compared to $15.339/MMBtu last week.
“The SparkNWE DES LNG front month price for March is assessed at $16.008/MMBtu, its highest point since Winter 22/23,” Afghan said.
He said the discount to the TTF widened for a sixth consecutive week, “widening by $0.08 to -$0.555/MMBtu and indicating continued increased demand for LNG delivery slots in NW-Europe and the widest basis in a year.”
“The US arb to NE-Asia (via the Cape of Good Hope) for February narrowed this week to -$0.853/MMBtu, but still continuing to strongly signal that US cargoes are incentivised to deliver to Europe instead of Asia.” Afghan said.
Data by Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) shows that volumes in gas storages in the EU declined considerably from last week and were 50.63 percent full on February 5.
Gas storages were 54.65 percent full on January 29., and 68.49 percent full on February 5, 2024.
JKM
In Asia, JKM, the price for LNG cargoes delivered to Northeast Asia in March 2025 settled at $14.515/MMBtu on Thursday.
Last week, JKM for March settled at 14.440/MMBtu on Friday, January 31.
Front-month JKM dropped to 14.405/MMBtu on Monday. It tose to 14.495/MMBtu on Tuesday, and it dropped to 14.430/MMBtu on Wednesday.
State-run Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) said in a report earlier this week that JKM rose to “high-$14s on January 31 from high-$13s the previous weekend.”
“JKM prices fell slightly in the first half of the week as high inventories and high price levels continued to suppress demand. However, for the week as a whole, the price rose on January 31 on supply concerns due to continued cargo outflows to Europe,” JOGMEC said.
