Japanese electricity companies’ use of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) fell in June, industry data showed, in part as higher nuclear and hydro plant utilisation rates helped satisfy rising power generation needs.

Use of crude and fuel oil by Japan’s 10 utilities totalled 660,000 kilolitres last month, a third less than they used a year earlier, data from the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan showed. LNG use dipped about 2.5 per cent to 3.08 million tonnes.

Downward pressure on thermal fuel use came as the utilities’ nuclear power plant utilisation rate rose 6.2 percentage points to average 66.1 per cent in June, the industry group said, confirming earlier calculations by Reuters.

The rise in June marked the tenth month in a row of year-on-year gains. Japan’s power firms generated 77.71 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in June, up 5.7 per cent from a year earlier but slightly less than the 6.1 per cent rise in a Reuters projection.

Industrial power demand has been nearing levels seen two years ago before the economic crisis hit the global economy, with big manufacturers turning optimistic in the April-June quarter and forecasting a rise in capital spending plans in a sign that a slow economic recovery is taking hold.

June power output, which marked the seventh straight month of year-on-year rises, was 0.3 per cent lower from the same month two years ago, improving from a 4.6 per cent decline in May compared with two years ago, federation officials said.