Japan’s imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are expected to fall to 58.5 million metric tons in the 2024/25 fiscal year, from an estimated 64 million ton this year, as more nuclear reactors will restart, the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ) said on Thursday.

Japan was the world’s biggest importer of the super-chilled fuel in 2022, though China was the top importer in the first half of 2023.

“Domestic demand for natural gas will decrease next fiscal year, mainly for electric power use, as new coal-fired power plants and solar farms are scheduled to start operation and three more nuclear power plants are expected to restart,” Ryo Eto, senior economist at the IEEJ, told an online conference.

Japan’s imports of LNG will likely drop to between 50 million and 60 million tons for the first time since fiscal 2005/06, he said.

LNG demand in Japan grew sharply after the March 2011 Fukushima disaster, where a nuclear power plant owned by Tokyo Electric Power 9501.T suffered meltdowns after an earthquake and tsunami, leading to the shutdown of all 54 nuclear reactors in the country.

That forced Japan to import record amounts of LNG, though the figure has ebbed from a peak reached in 2014/15.

“The temporary large increase since the 2011 earthquake will be largely eliminated (by next year),” Eto said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; editing by Jason Neely)