Japan’s Industry Minister Koichi Hagiuda warned on Thursday, “Japan's electricity supply vs. demand this winter is expected to be the tightest in a decade.”

Additional quotes

“LNG inventory held by major utilities as of October 15 was around 2.3 mln tonnes, up 0.7 mln tonnes from a year ago.”

“On electricity supply for winter, says minimum required reserve ratio of 3% has been secured. “

Market reaction

USD/JPY is little affected by the above headlines, keeping its range around 114.30, marginally higher on the day. Rising Treasury yields continue to put a floor under the spot.