Cargo diversion to hurt vessel demand

摘要

LNG demand in Japan and South Korea has been weakening in recent years while demand in India and China has not been growing at the expected pace. Buyers from these countries who have contracted excessive amounts of LNG have realised they have bitten off more than they can chew. They are now looking at ways to offload their contractual commitments from the US by diverting their cargoes to Europe and Latin America. Moreover, it does not make much economic sense now to import LNG from the US as it is proving to be more expensive in the current low oil price environment.