Four Nov spot trades agreed on Platts Asia LNG MOC as JKM liquidity rises

A record of four spot LNG trades with a market value of more than $80 million were agreed via the S&P Global Platts Asia LNG Market on Close assessment process Monday for November deliveries to North Asia, as enhanced standardization and efficiency continue to boost liquidity around Platts JKM price formation.

The cargoes were sold by BP to Vitol at $6.05/MMBtu for November 13-17 delivery, PetroChina to Vitol at $6/MMBtu for November 16-20, Shell to Vitol at $5.90/MMBtu for November 21-23 and Shell to BP at $6.10/MMBtu for November 28-30, showing a relatively flat November price structure ahead of North Asia’s peak winter demand season in December-February.

The percentage of bids, offers and trades in the MOC process that fully adhere to the standardized trading terms regarding vessel nomination, delivery window and discharge port has steadily increased, reducing the need for normalization and boosting price formation efficiency.

Platts JKM, the benchmark price for spot LNG in Northeast Asia, was launched in 2009.

Growing spot physical liquidity and JKM-based indexation in term contracts have also supported the expansion of JKM derivatives markets, with the equivalent of nearly 60 million mt of LNG cleared through the exchanges over January-August.

Source: Platts