(The views expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.)

By Clyde Russell

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Europe's imports of liquefied natural gas $(LNG)$ surged to an 11-month high in December, but the gain didn't come at the expense of Asia, which also recorded higher arrivals.

A total of 10.89 million metric tons of the super-chilled fuel was imported by Europe in December, up 23% from 8.86 million in November and the highest since January's 11.18 million, according to data compiled by commodity analysts Kpler.

The sharp increase in Europe's imports came as winter demand rose and ahead of the end of Russian pipeline shipments through Ukraine at the start of 2025.

However, the increase in European purchases of LNG didn't come at the expense of arrivals in Asia, the world's top-importing region.

Asia imported 25.63 million tons in December, up from 22.64 million in November and the most since the 26.19 million in January, according to Kpler data.

However, Asia's December figure was down 3.6% from the 26.58 million tons seen in the same month in 2023. Europe also recorded a drop from December 2023, when imports were 11.75 million tons, or 7.9% higher than the figure for December 2024.

A mild start to winter in North Asia coupled with rising spot prices are likely to have curbed importer enthusiasm for LNG.

China, the world's biggest buyer of LNG, saw arrivals of 7.66 million tons in December, which was down from 8.20 million for the same month a year earlier.

Similar small declines were recorded by Japan and South Korea, the second- and third-biggest importers in Asia.

India, Asia's fourth-biggest LNG importer, actually saw a small increase in December arrivals on a year-on-year basis, coming in at 1.94 million tons, versus 1.86 million in December 2023.

However, India's LNG imports have been trending weaker since reaching a 2024 peak of 2.60 million tons in June, with the lower arrivals coinciding with rising prices for spot cargoes.

The price of spot LNG for delivery to North Asia hit its 2024 low of $8.30 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) in early March.

At this price Indian buyers would have been encouraged to book spot cargoes, which would have taken up until June to be delivered.

However, the spot LNG price started rising from March onwards, reaching $12.60 per mmBtu by mid-June, $14.10 by mid-August and peaking at $15.10 by late November.

It has since eased slightly to end at $14.60 per mmBtu in the week to Jan. 3.

Prices above $10 per mmBtu have in the past resulted in India taking fewer spot cargoes, and have even encouraged Chinese buyers to resell LNG.

EUROPE DEMAND

With Europe experiencing cold weather, it's likely that natural gas prices in the continent will remain supported, especially with storages dropping to stand at just over 70% full last week, which is below the 85% from the same time last year and the 76% five-year average.

European prices are high enough to encourage spot LNG cargoes to head to the continent, with the benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub ending at 47.17 euros per megawatt hour, equivalent to $14.36 per mmBtu.

The loss of Russian pipeline gas through Ukraine and the faster drawdown of inventories means Europe is likely to keep LNG purchases at higher-than-usual levels for coming months, which may prevent spot prices from having their usual seasonal downturn when the northern winter ends.

However, there is also the possibility that increased LNG supply, especially from the United States, will be sufficient to meet any lift in European demand.

Europe imported 5.22 million tons of U.S. LNG in December, an 11-month high and more than double the 2.30 million from July, which was the softest month in 2024.

The world's biggest LNG exporter is expected to increase exports in 2025, with two new plants, Venture Global's Plaquemines and Cheniere's Corpus Christi Stage 3, starting production late in December 2024.

The views expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.

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(Editing by Himani Sarkar)

((clyde.russell@thomsonreuters.com)(+61 437 622 448)(Reuters Messaging: clyde.russell.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))