The Platts Gulf Coast Marker (GCM) for November-loading cargoes pointed to Northeast Asia as the most profitable destination market for FOB US Gulf Coast LNG cargoes on Thursday, despite rising shipping rates.
The GCM on Thursday shed almost 40 cents on the day on higher shipping costs from the Atlantic Basin to Northeast Asia via the Panama Canal. Even with the higher shipping cost, however, the JKM continued to provide the best netback value on Thursday, as delivered prices into that market rose by 25 cents/MMBtu.
On Thursday, both half-month periods considered in the GCM front-month assessment were set by netbacks to the JKM, with cargoes for H1 November loading assessed at $4.089/MMBtu and H2 November at $4.380/MMBtu, for a headline number of $4.235/MMBtu. This was the lowest value seen for the GCM since cargoes for November loading began being assessed at the start of October.
Emerging tightness in the global shipping market saw Atlantic day charter rates rise 20% in one week, moving from $100,000/day last Thursday to $120,000/day. The Platts-assessed cost of sending a cargo from the USGC to a destination in Northeast Asia via the Panama Canal has therefore jumped more than 70 cents/MMBtu during the course of the week.
CARGO LOADINGS FROM USGC EDGE UP
A total of 10 cargoes loaded on the USGC October 11-17, according to data from S&P Global Platts Analytics. This was up one cargo from the previous week, with the total volume of gas loaded higher by 2.188 Bcf.
Most of the cargoes are destined for ports east of the Panama Canal, with five cargoes currently moving in a northeasterly direction toward Europe, according to cFlow, Platts trade flow software. Two tankers, meanwhile, were destined to stay in the Caribbean, with shipping data showing Jamaica and the Dominican Republic as the scheduled destinations.
Only one vessel, the Bw Gdf Suez Brussels, was currently headed toward the Panama Canal, with shipping data showing the expected arrival port as Incheon, South Korea.
Fitting with convention, the Cheniere-operated Sabine Pass LNG facility loaded the lion's share of cargoes, accounting for seven of the total 10 cargo loadings. The other Cheniere-controlled facility, Corpus Christi LNG, loaded two cargoes, while Freeport LNG loaded its fourth commissioning cargo.
Late Thursday, there were tankers berthed at liquefaction facilities in Cameron, Corpus Christi and Sabine Pass and another four vessels in holding positions off the three southernmost US Gulf-based terminals.
US LNG FEEDGAS UP 4.503 BCF ON WEEK
US LNG feedgas rose 4.503 Bcf to 47.277 Bcf week on week, amid Covepoint LNG's return from maintenance and Freeport LNG preparing to load another commissioning cargo, according to Platts data.
Covepoint LNG started receiving daily gas flows consistent with its premaintenance levels of around 0.750 Bcf/day on October 14. The facility went into scheduled maintenance around the middle of September. Gas deliveries to Freeport LNG, meanwhile, were up 2.214 Bcf, with the 134,425 cu m Galea in a holding pattern outside the facility.
