Taiwan's appetite for LNG imports in August has dwindled on lower gas demand from the power sector, which saw state-owned CPC skip spot purchases for the month, sources said Friday.
LNG sellers who had been marketing cargoes for August said they had seen some inquiries from CPC before interest from the incumbent buyer dried up towards the end of June.
Gas burn for electricity generation in Taiwan over the first few days of July was below levels registered in June, as several baseload generation units were back online following planned maintenance in June, a source close to state-owned Taipower said.
And with overall electricity demand growth at below 1% from 2012 -- still well within expectations -- CPC was able to meet its LNG requirements through term deliveries, the source added.
CPC is now still weighing whether it will have any incremental demand for September spot deliveries, according to another source in Taiwan.
The source highlighted that the approaching Typhoon Soulik is likely to dampen electricity demand over the weekend as temperatures will drop, reducing the need for air conditioning.
Taiwan is bracing itself for the arrival of the typhoon, which is currently a Category 2, the strongest of the 2013 season so far, according to the Taiwanese Central Weather Bureau. The storm is due to make landfall on Friday afternoon, bringing torrential rainfall and high winds, according to CWB.
