TOKYO, June 20 (Reuters) - Japan's coal, crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports rose sharply in May from a year earlier as all of the country's nuclear plants were idled following the disaster at Fukushima, government data showed on Wednesday.
Japan's imports of LNG were 7.06 million tonnes last month, up 16.8 percent from a year earlier, preliminary data from the Ministry of Finance showed. They rose 2.2 percent from April.
Imports of thermal coal for power generation rose 20.8 percent in May to 9.09 million tonnes from a year ago.
The last of Japan's nuclear reactors went into maintenance on May 5, pushing the country's fossil-fuel import bill higher and helping to send the country into a trade deficit for the month that was wider than projected.
Japan's imports of LNG in the year through March 2013 are forecast to rise 9 percent to 85.5 million tonnes, a Reuters poll of analysts showed last month.
Japan, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, imported 16.6 million kilolitres (3.37 million barrels per day) of crude oil last month, an increase of 7.1 percent from a year earlier, the data showed. April imports amounted to 19.157 million kl.
The country's crude cocktail price in May declined to $124.54 per barrel, from $127.05 in April, according to the ministry.
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Aaron Sheldrick and Ed Davies) Keywords: ENERGY JAPAN MOF/
(osamu.tsukimori@thomsonreuters.com)(+813 6441 1857)(Reuters Messaging: osamu.tsukimori.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)
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