Prices of spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) for April delivery to northeast Asia continued their downward slide, falling 59.8% year over year to average $7.279 per million British thermal units (/MMBtu), according to latest Platts Japan/Korea Marker (Platts JKM™) data for month-ahead delivery.

The figure reflects the daily JKM assessed published by Platts, a leading global energy, petrochemicals and metals information provider and a premier source of benchmark price references, between February 16 and March 13 expressed as a monthly average,.

The year-over-year drop was largely attributed to weaker-than-expected demand from buyers in northeast Asia, where both electricity generation and utility gas usage are down on fairly mild temperatures over the winter season, and slowing economic growth. The fall followed the record year-over-year plunge of 61.7% seen the previous trading month.

Month over month, the April JKM dipped a more marginal 2.1%, suggesting that the downward spiral in prices was beginning to lose momentum.

Tags: Platts