Japan’s 10 major power utilities used 4.53 million mt of LNG in June, up 6.5% from a year ago and record volume for the month, data released Friday by the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan showed.

The previous high for LNG use in June was last year, when consumption stood at 4.25 million mt.

The utilities’ coal use slipped 2.2% year on year to 4.38 million mt in June, but this was still the second highest volume for the month after June 2013 when coal consumption stood at 4.48 million mt, the FEPC said.

The 10 power utilities generated 50,340 GWh of electricity from thermal power plants in June, up 2.6% from a year earlier, while overall electricity generation including hydro and renewables slipped 1.6% to 69,806 GWh, according to the FEPC.

In June last year, Japan also had nuclear power from Kansai Electric’s two 1.18 GW Ooi nuclear reactors that were still online before the utility shut them for maintenance in September last year.

Meanwhile, the utilities’ use of crude and fuel oil in June this year fell 23.4% year on year to 243,212 b/d, the FEPC said.

On procurement, the utilities bought 4.8 million mt of LNG in June, up 13.2% from a year earlier, while total crude and fuel oil procurement volumes came in at 250,017 b/d, down 21.1% year on year. Meanwhile, the procurement of coal rose 2.4% year on year to 4.8 million mt in June.