China’s natural gas imports, including pipeline gas and LNG, dropped by 9.4 percent in January-February when compared to the same period last year, according to customs data.
Natural gas imports during January-February reached 17.93 million tonnes, according to the data from the General Administration of Customs.
This compares to 19.79 million tonnes in the same period last year.
China paid about $1.72 billion for gas imports in the first two months of this year, down 9.2 percent year on year.
There is currently no available data for LNG imports during the period.
Japan was the world’s top liquefied natural gas importer in 2022, overtaking China, but both of the countries took fewer volumes when compared to the year before.
China received about 63.44 million tonnes of LNG last year, down 19.5 percent year on year, as Covid-19 lockdowns and high prices curbed demand for LNG in China.
Spot LNG prices considerably dropped this year and the JKM for April settled at $14.285/MMBtu on Monday.
