LNG Shipping Rates Hit All-Time High Ahead of Winter Traffic

Photo: Igor Grochev / Shutterstock

LONDON, Nov 6 (Reuters) – The cost of shipping liquefied natural gas (LNG) has hit $200,000 a day, exceeding a 2012 peak of $180,000 a day

The headline average is $170,000 for Asia Pacific, according to analysts at Jefferies, up around 20 percent from two weeks ago.

The headline average for the Atlantic Basin remains around $140,000 a day.

This compares to an average of around $80,000 to $85,000 a day in both basins at the end of last year, at the height of winter, according to the IGU.

LNG shipping rates tend to go up during the Northern Hemisphere winter and summer when gas is used for heating or cooling.

But rates have also jumped due to supply from new plants, longer distances travelled and anticipation of higher prices prompting shippers to lock in longer-duration contracts.

A recovery in the shipping rates from about three years of depressed levels has begun to boost earnings of LNG shipping companies such as Gaslog, Golar and Hoegh .

(Reporting by Sabina Zawadzki; Editing by Adrian Croft)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2018.

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