S.Korea Jan LNG imports drop; coal surges

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) dropped about 10 percent year-on-year in January, customs data showed on Monday.

South Korea, the world's second-largest LNG buyer after Japan, imported 3.5 million metric tones of LNG in January, down from 3.9 million metric tones a year earlier, according to the Korea Customs Service.

State-owned Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) <036460.KS>, the world's biggest corporate buyer of LNG and South Korea's sole wholesaler, said last Thursday it sold 4 million metric tones of LNG in January, up 25.6 percent from a year earlier.

Because of the higher sales amid lower imports, South Korean LNG stocks held by KOGAS at the end of January probably dropped by 36 percent to 1.5 million metric tones from a year earlier, a Reuters calculation based on trade and sales data showed on Monday.

KOGAS earlier this month said it aims to sell about 28 million metric tones of LNG in 2010, compared with 24.6 million metric tones sold last year, as they expect demand for power generation to recover along with the economy.

South Korea's imports of heating coal in January jumped about 11 percent from a year earlier, customs data showed on Monday. South Korea imported 8.1 million metric tones of coal in January, up from 7.3 million metric tones a year earlier, the Korea Customs Service said.

(Reporting by Cho Mee-young; Editing by Ed Lane)