Buying and selling on the up

Increased spot and short-term LNG trading and sharp price moves have encouraged the global growth of derivatives trading and hub activity

Price reporting services over the past year have witnessed increased interest in the use of indices to price liquefied natural gas in the Asia-Pacific region, which dominates world LNG consumption. S&P Platts says swap volumes linked to its Japan Korea Marker (JKM) price index continue to rise. It recently reported that the volume of LNG swaps cleared on the Intercontinental and Chicago Mercantile Exchanges hit a new monthly record in April, at 17,181 lots, up 57% from 10,830 lots in March. JKM swap-trading volumes quadrupled in 2017 from 2016. Market participants hesitate to conclude from rising derivatives volumes that the Asia-Pacific financial LNG market is ready to stand unaided, no