LNG Usage by Japan's Top Power Utilities Hits Record in June

Usage of LNG in June by Japan’s 10 major power utilities stood at 4.53 million mt, up 6.5% from a year ago, Platts said Friday citing data provided by the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan.

The volume is a record for month of June. According to Platts, the previous high for LNG use in June was last year, when consumption stood at 4.25 million mt.

On procurement, the utilities bought 4.8 million mt of LNG in June, up 13.2% from a year earlier.

Japan has seen a surge in imports of LNG by utilities since the shutdown of nuclear power plants due to 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Last year, the country imports record volumes of LNG. It imported 87.49 million tonnes of LNG in 2013, up 0.2 percent, Ministry of Finance data released earlier this year showed.  

Total value of LNG imports in 2013 stood at 7.06 trillion yen ($68.98 billion), which is also a record.