Dutch, German natural gas spot prices down on demand, weather

* TTF day-ahead down 32.5 euro cent at Eur16.25/MWh
* NCG/GASPOOL spot spread widens to 17.5 euro cent
* Front-month contracts pressured by weaker Brent

Dutch and German day-ahead gas prices were weaker Wednesday morning, with less demand expected and temperatures forecast above seasonal norms. Further dated contracts fell as crude prices dropped on weak data from China and the US.

Around midday London time, TTF day-ahead last dealt at Eur16.25/MWh, down 32.5 euro cent from Tuesday's close.

German NetConnect was also down 32.5 euro cent at Eur16.65/MWh, while GASPOOL moved lower by 20 euro cent to Eur16.825/MWh.

Dutch and German prices followed UK NBP day-ahead, which was 0.50 p/th lower and last heard trading at 42.25 p/th at midday as a steep drop in demand caused both medium-range storage withdrawals and Dutch imports to cease.

CustomWeather forecast temperatures in Amsterdam Thursday at 2 degree Celsius above seasonal norms, up from 1 C above norm Wednesday.

Temperatures in Berlin, in the GASPOOL area, are expected to jump to 4 degrees C above norms Thursday, from normal Wednesday. In Munich, in the NCG area, temperatures are expected at 3 degrees C above seasonal norms Thursday, up from 1 C below Wednesday.

At around midday London time, Platts Analytics Eclipse Energy forecast end-of-day consumption in the Netherlands at 123.6 million cu m Wednesday, slipping to 120 million cu m Thursday.

Consumption in Germany was forecast at 279 million cu m Wednesday, falling to 262.2 million cu m Thursday.

The short-term demand model is calculated from the latest demand, temperature and wind speed out-turns.

On the supply side, at around midday UK time Norwegian flow rates into Emden-Dornum on the Dutch-German border were 133.5 million cu m/d up from 127.0 million cu m/d Tuesday, according to transmission system operator Gassco.

Net storage withdrawals into the Dutch network were nominated Wednesday at 57 million cu m/d at 11 am London time, from a nomination of 63.85 million cu m/d at the same time Tuesday, according to Platts Analytics data.

On the near curve, TTF April last dealt by around midday London time at Eur16.20/MWh, down 30 euro cent on the day. GASPOOL was 22.5 euro cent lower at Eur16.30/MWh, while NCG contracts fell 17.5 euro cent to Eur16.65/MWh.