Taiwan ups LNG imports in January-November

Data from the Directorate General of Customs shows that the country received 19.72 million tonnes of LNG during the period.

This is up by 8.1 percent year-on-year compared to 18.24 million mt in January-November last year.

The data shows that most of these LNG supplies came from Australia (7.32 million mt), Qatar (5.19 million mt), and the US (2.13 million mt).

Taiwan paid $10.84 billion for LNG imports in January-November this year, down from $11.35 billion during the same period last year, the data shows.

In November, Taiwan’s LNG terminals received 1.80 million mt, and Taiwan paid $1.05 billion for these imports.

This compares to 1.62 million mt and $973 million in November 2023, the data shows.

In 2023, Taiwan imported 20.08 million mt, a slight increase compared to 19.95 million mt in 2022, according to the data.

This stability is the result of the shift of the power generation mix towards more renewables but also less coal and the phase-out of nuclear power generation planned for 2025, GIIGNL said.

Taiwan currently imports LNG via two terminals operated by state-owned CPC.

CPC operates the Yung-An LNG terminal with a capacity of 10.5 mtpa and the Taichung LNG import terminal with a capacity of 6 mtpa, according to GIIGNL data.

The firm is also expanding its Taichung LNG terminal.

In addition, CPC is also working on the Guantang LNG terminal and the Zhouji LNG terminal.

This year, QatarEnergy and CPC signed a 27-year sale and purchase deal for the supply of LNG from Qatar’s North Field East (NFE) expansion project. CPC will also take a stake in the NFE project.

CPC also signed a 10-year deal to buy LNG from Australian LNG player Woodside.