Japan's June oil import price in yen sets third straight record amid Iran war

Japan's crude oil import price reached a record high in yen terms in June, marking a third straight monthly record, Ministry of Finance data showed on Wednesday, as supply disruptions from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz drove energy prices higher.

• The customs-cleared import price rose 84.7% from a year earlier to 117,684 yen ($722) per kilolitre, the highest since comparable records began in 1979, surpassing the previous record of 114,076 yen in May.
• In dollar terms, the price stood at $117.16 per barrel, the ninth-highest on record.
• Also contributing to the increase were a weaker yen as well as higher insurance and freight costs.
• Japan's crude import price, known as the Japan Crude Cocktail (JCC), is based on customs-cleared CIF (cost, insurance and freight) prices and typically tracks global oil trends with a roughly one-month lag due to shipping times.
• Higher JCC prices increase the cost of importing crude oil and liquefied natural gas, a key fuel for thermal power generation, feeding through to higher electricity prices.
• Crude import volumes fell 13.7% from a year earlier in June, after dropping 57.3% in May and 64% in April, the steepest decline since 1980.
• By region, imports from the Middle East plunged 40.6% to 5.69 million kilolitres (35.8 million barrels), while shipments from the United States soared 459.5% to 2.72 million kilolitres.
• Before the disruptions to the strait due to the U.S.-Iran war that broke out in late February, about 95% of Japan's crude imports came from the Middle East.
• In value terms, crude imports surged 59.3%, the first increase in 17 months.
• For the first half of 2026, the import price rose 12.4% from a year earlier to 81,498 yen per kilolitre, the second-highest six-month average on record. The record was 93,750 yen per kilolitre in the second half of 2022, a MOF official said.