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Japan’s imports of Russian LNG up 35.7% in March, its share up to 10.4%

Japan’s purchases of Russian coal fell by 83% in the reporting period

TOKYO, April 17. /TASS/. Japan’s imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia increased by 35.7% in March year-on-year, according to figures released by the Japanese finance ministry. Meanwhile, according to TASS’ calculations, the share of Russian LNG in the total volume of Japan’s imports of this type of fuel rose to 10.4% with the average annual level standing at around 9%.

Japan’s purchases of Russian coal fell by 83% in the reporting period. During the whole 2023 financial year (from April 2023 to March 2024) LNG imports from Russia edged down by 1.6%, while coal imports plunged by 72.8%. Purchases fell amid a general decrease in imports of LNG (down by 8%) and coal (down by 9.2%) by Japan from all countries in the period.

In 2023 financial year Russian LNG accounted for 9.67% of import of this type of fuel by Japan, one of the world’s largest LNG importers.

Japan did not import Russian oil in 2023 financial year.

Import of nonferrous metal ores fell by 85.8%, purchases of pig iron and steel products decreased by 48.7%, while import of non-ferrous metals dropped by 72%. Meanwhile supplies of pig iron and steel products to Russia fell by 92.1%, while purchases of non-ferrous metals added 12.5%.

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