Japan's industry minister Koichi Hagiuda said on Tuesday he will again ask the United States and Australia to boost output of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and ensure a stable supply to the country when he meets his counterparts in Sydney later this week. "I will once again firmly request the United States, a major global LNG producer, and Australia, the largest LNG supplier to Japan, to step up production and ensure a stable supply of the fuel as the global LNG market is tightening in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine," Hagiuda told a news conference.