On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that according to ship-tracking data, EU imports of liquified natural gas (LNG) have fallen to the lowest level in almost two years.

In July, LNG deliveries fell 7% year over year to 8.6 million tons, marking the lowest volume seen since November of 2021, according to the outlet.

The fall comes as the region’s benchmark gas prices have fallen over 80% during that period, which has led traders to either redirect shipments to Asia, where prices are higher, or to store their product and wait for prices to rise again.

On Wednesday, front-month futures at the TTF hub in Amsterdam, which function as the European benchmark for gas trading, sat at roughly €28 ($31) per megawatt-hour (MWh), which marked a decline from the roughly €200 ($220) per MWh it registered a year ago.

Meanwhile, in Asia, spot LNG prices increased over the past several days, as a September delivery to northeast Asia averaged nearly $11 per million British thermal units on Tuesday, which worked out to $38.5 (€35.1) per MWh. Heatwaves throughout Japan, South Korea, and parts of China have been blamed for the increase in price.

Last year, as Russian pipeline deliveries of natural gas gradually were reduced due to sanctions-related maintenance issues and sabotage attacks which destroyed the Nord Stream pipelines, the EU switched to LNG to make up the shortfall as winter approached, increasing imports of the super-chilled fuel by over 60%. The imports have come primarily from the US, Qatar, and Russia.

Data from Gas Infrastructure Europe indicates that EU countries presently are sitting on above-average stockpiles of gas. As of July 31st, storage sites are registering as more than 85% full according to the data.

However Bloomberg has concluded that as the bloc prepares for winter, it may need to increase the prices it is offering to pay to draw shipments away from Asia, so it can finish filling its reserves, and secure sufficient supplies to make it through the winter.