China’s liquefied natural gas imports rose 12.6 percent in 2023, and the country overtook Japan as the world’s largest LNG importer.
Data from the General Administration of Customs shows that China received about 71.32 million tonnes in the January-December period.
This is a rise compared to about 63.44 million tonnes of LNG in 2022 when imports dropped due to very high spot LNG prices and Covid lockdowns.
China’s 2023 LNG imports dropped compared to record 78.93 million tonnes in 2021.
Last month, China received about 8.40 million tonnes, a rise of 28.4 percent compared to December 2022.
This is the highest monthly figure for Chinese LNG imports last year, the data shows.
Prior to that, LNG imports in November were the highest last year reaching 6.80 million tonnes, a rise of 6.6 percent on the year.
Including pipeline gas, China’s gas imports rose by 9.9 percent to about 119.97 million tonnes in 2023.
The country’s pipeline gas imports rose by 6.2 percent in January-December to 48.65 million tonnes, the data shows.
World’s largest LNG importer
Japan was the world’s top LNG importer in 2022, overtaking China, but both of the countries took fewer volumes when compared to the year before.
China has overtaken Japan this year. However, official data for Japan’s December LNG imports is not available yet.
During the January-November period, Japan imported some 59.85 million tonnes, down by about 3.14 million tonnes compared to China’s volumes.
Including China’s December volumes, the difference is about 11.54 million tonnes.
According to reports, Japan imported between 6-7 million tonnes of LNG in December.