Chinese LNG Imports See Strong Growth This Summer

By JLC - Jul 27, 2019, 10:00 AM CDT OilPrice.comBy JLC - Jul 27, 2019, 10:00 AM CDT

China imported 4.53 million mt of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in June 2019, up 14.9% year on year and 10,000 mt or 2.3% month on month, data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) shows.

The imports accounted for 60.2% of China’s total natural gas imports, an increase of 5.8 percentage points year on year and 1.6 percentage points month on month.

China’s imports of natural gas in June were 7.52 million mt, up 3.4% year on year and down 40,000 mt or 0.5% month on month. The country imported 2.99 million mt of gaseous natural gas (GNG) in the month, down 10.3% year on year and 140,000 mt or 4.5% month on month.

The import value of natural gas was $3.10 billion in June, up 7.9% year on year, while that of LNG and GNG were $2.01 billion and $1.09 billion, respectively, up 9.7% and 4.8% year on year.

It is calculated that the natural gas import price averaged $412/mt in June, up $4.1/mt or 1.0% month on month, while that of LNG and GNG averaged $443.7/mt and $363.9/mt, respectively, up $0.9/mt or 0.2% and $5.4/mt or 1.5% month on month.