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Natural gas imports during the last month reached about 11.99 million tonnes, rising 18.2 percent compared to 10.14 million tonnes in September 2023, the data from the General Administration of Customs shows.
China paid about $5.96 billion for gas imports last month.
During January-September, China’s gas imports reached 99.08 million tonnes, a rise of 13 percent year-on-year.
The world’s largest LNG importer paid about $48.7 billion for gas imports in January-September, up 3.7 percent compared to the same period in 2023.
China’s LNG imports
There is no official data for China’s LNG imports in September.
In January this year, China’s LNG import terminals took 7.25 million tonnes of LNG, up by 22.9 percent year-on-year, in February LNG imports rose by 15.2 percent to 5.95 million tonnes, while in March LNG imports increased by 25.1 percent to 6.65 million tonnes.
China’s April LNG imports increased 31.5 percent to 6.22 million tonnes of LNG, in May LNG imports increased by 3.4 percent to 6.57 million tonnes, June imports were down 4.6 percent year-on-year to 5.62 million tonnes, and July LNG imports increased 1.1 percent to 5.90 million tonnes, customs data previously showed.
The country’s LNG imports increased by 10.7 percent to 50.29 million tonnes in January-August, while August LNG imports rose by 5.1 percent to 6.54 million tonnes.
The slowdown in LNG import growth during May-July could be attributed to the rise in prices.
Chinese buyers were buying spot LNG cargoes during this year due to low JKM prices.
From the second half of January until the second half of April, Asian spot LNG prices were below $10/MMBtu.
However, the front-month JKM rose in May for the first time this year above $12/MMBtu, and it currently trades at about $13/MMBtu.
On the other hand, the increase in Chinese LNG imports in August was driven by stronger gas demand, supported by robust economic activity and higher LNG demand for trucks, according to GECF.
China’s LNG imports rose 12.6 percent in 2023, and the country overtook Japan as the world’s largest LNG importer.
The country received about 71.32 million tonnes in the January-December period last year.