Natural gas prices in Europe continued their downward trend,...

Natural gas prices in Europe continued their downward trend, with Dutch front-month natural gas futures trading around €50 per megawatt hour, close to levels last seen in August 2021. The European benchmark is more than 85% below record levels of nearly €350 hit in August last year as the continent enters springtime in less than a month following an unusually warm winter that allowed stockpiles to remain above normal levels. Looking ahead, investors will be monitoring how the European Union prepares for next winter, at a time when the fall in prices could boost demand in the industrial and power sectors and a pick-up in demand from China could raise competition for liquefied natural gas.