China’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports rose for the second month in a row in November, according to customs data.
Data from the General Administration of Customs shows that the country received about 6.80 million tonnes in November, a rise of 6.6 percent compared to the same month last year.
This is the highest monthly figure for Chinese LNG imports this year, the data shows.
LNG imports in November also rose compared to 5.17 million tonnes in October, which also marked a year-on-year rise.
The country’s imports in September declined after rising for seven months in a row.
China imported 62.99 million tonnes of LNG during January-November, up by 10.9 percent compared to the same period last year, the data shows.
However, Chinese LNG imports fell last year due to due to very high spot LNG prices and Covid lockdowns, which affected economic activity.
LNG imports dropped compared to the January-November period in 2021 when China imported 71.36 million tonnes of LNG.
Including pipeline gas, China’s gas imports rose by 8.5 percent year-on-year to 107.39 million tonnes in January-November this year.
The country’s pipeline gas imports rose by 6.6 percent in November to 4.15 million tonnes, the data shows.
World’s largest LNG importer
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.
However, China has overtaken Japan this year.
During the January-October period, Japan imported some 54.3 million tonnes, down by about 1.9 million tonnes compared to China’s 56.2 million tonnes.
Japan has not yet released its official data for LNG imports in November.
