European Natural-Gas Price Falls as LNG Demand in Asia Weakens
1025 GMT – European natural-gas prices extend losses in midday trade, with the benchmark Dutch TTF contract dropping below 32 euros a megawatt hour. 'LNG imports to Northwest Europe have picked up again… at a level we believe is more than sufficient to balance the European market and refill inventories,' analysts at DNB Markets DNB 0.67%increase; green up pointing triangle say. 'LNG imports must continue to be high going forward, as it is very much needed for Europe to rebuild inventories before the next heating season.' Meanwhile, weaker demand in Asia is contributing to the price decline, with China re-exporting the highest volume of gas ever in a single month in April, market watchers say, citing data from Bloomberg. Demand in the continent is also expected to weaken further this week due to above-average temperatures. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
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