China’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports dropped by 21.3 percent in the January-August period of this year, according to customs data.
Data from the General Administration of Customs shows the country received about 40.64 million tonnes in the period under review, compared to about 51.81 million tonnes last year.
China’s LNG imports dropped this year mainly due to very high spot LNG prices and Covid lockdowns, which affected economic activity.
In August, China took some 4.72 million tonnes of LNG, down 28.3 percent when compared to the same month last year. August imports were almost flat when compared to the prior month’s 4.74 million tonnes.
On the other side, China’s pipeline gas imports increased in January-August.
Pipeline imports rose by 10.6 percent to 30.40 million tonnes, while in August these imports increased by 9 percent to 4.13 million tonnes, the data said.
China became the world’s largest LNG importer last year, overtaking Japan, but the latter regained the title this year.
During the January-August period, Japan imported some 49.95 million tonnes of LNG, or about 9.3 million tonnes more than China.
