Lower German June gas imports drag down H1 total, prices fall
Gas, power and carbon traders monitor gas imports because the supply and demand balance can change prices and traded volumes in all three markets
FRANKFURT: Germany imported 2 per cent less natural gas in the first six months of 2020 after imports in June alone dropped by 8.5 per cent year-on-year while lower prices reduced the Jan-June import bill by more than a third, official data showed on Friday.
Gas, power and carbon traders monitor gas imports because the supply and demand balance can change prices and traded volumes in all three markets.
Gas statistics also correlate with coal, which competes with gas in the production of electricity, and carbon emissions permits.
German January-June imports were 2,695,921 Terajoules (TJ), or 76.7 billion cubic metres (bcm), compared with 2,750,176 TJ a year earlier, said trade statistics office BAFA.
For June, imports totalled 371,125 TJ, down 8.5 per cent.
Imports in the year to May had still been 8.7 per cent above the same period a year ago.
Importers’ bills fell to 8.9 billion euros ($10.48 billion) for the six months, 35.5 per cent less than a year earlier as a supply glut weighed on the market.
Average prices paid on the border in June were 2,550.53 euros per TJ, which was equivalent to 0.92 euro cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), and down 34.8 per cent from the same month in 2019.
Average border prices across the January-June period were down 34.0 per cent year-on-year at 3,305.67 euros/TJ.
Germany mainly imports gas from Russia, Norway, the Netherlands, Britain and Denmark via pipelines.
