Japan's 10 regional power utilities imported 5.31 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas in August, a record for the month, the Federation of Electric Power Companies said Friday.

Imports rose 0.6 percent from the 5.28 million metric tons imported in August 2011. Utilities including Tokyo Electric Power Co. consumed 5.09 million tons of LNG in the month, up 5.7 percent from a year earlier, while fuel oil consumption rose 47.8 percent to 1.57 million kiloliters.