By Katya Golubkova
TOKYO, April 27 (Reuters) - Japan cut imports of
liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia by 40% in March from a
year ago and increased LNG purchases from the United States at a
cheaper price, data released by Japan's finance ministry showed
on Thursday.
Australia remained Japan's largest source of imported LNG
with 2.4 million tonnes in March, a 12% drop from a year ago,
followed by nearly flat volumes of 1.05 million tonnes from
Malaysia, the data showed.
Despite a drop in volumes to 425,000 tonnes, Russia remained
Japan's third-biggest LNG supplier last month, with average
importing price of $14.64 per million British thermal units
(mmBtu).
Supplies from the United States increased by 41% to 268,000
tonnes at a price of $11.98 per mmBtu, cheaper than not only
Russian supplies, but also Australian and Malaysian LNG at
$15.84 and $14.26 per mmBtu respectively, the data showed.
The finance ministry's data is compiled under rules that
allow importers to delay clearing imports through the customs
bureau, meaning the data is often out of date.
There were no numbers released for the crude oil imports by
Japan from Russia in March, meaning they either may come with a
delay or there were no oil flows from Russia to Japan last
month. Japan is a shareholder with oil project Sakhalin 1 and
LNG project Sakhalin 2 in Russia's far east.
In February, Japan was importing an average of 8,300 barrels
of oil per day from Russia, a 94% drop from a year ago, paying
$69.98 per barrel as an average, the finance ministry's data
showed.
The trade ministry releases its own breakdown of monthly
crude imports on the last business day of the month, which the
oil industry considers as the benchmark data because it tracks
actual import status of crude carriers.
(Reporting by Katya Golubkova; Editing by Varun H K)
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.