China’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports dropped by 20.3 percent in the January-July period of this year, according to customs data.
Data from the General Administration of Customs shows the country received about 35.93 million tonnes in the period under review, compared to about 45.25 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 July, China took some 4.74 million tonnes of LNG, down 15.4 percent when compared to the same month last year. July imports dropped slightly when compared to the prior month’s 4.82 million tonnes.
On the other side, China’s pipeline gas imports increased in January-July.
Pipeline imports rose by 10.8 percent to 26.28 million tonnes, while in July these imports increased by 8 percent to 3.96 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-July period, Japan imported some 43.68 million tonnes of LNG, or more than 7.7 million tonnes of LNG compared to China’s volumes.
