China’s LNG imports continued to rise in June year-on-year, boosted by strong demand from the power generation and industrial sectors.
The country imported 6.72 million tonnes of LNG last month, a rise of 16.5 percent year-on-year, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.
However, imports dropped when compared to May. China received 7.03 million tonnes of LNG in May.
In the January-June period, China imported 39.78 million tonnes, the data said.
This marked a year-on-year rise of 27.8 percent when compared to the same period in 2020.
In addition, China’s pipeline gas imports also increased by 37.5 percent to 3.49 million tonnes in June.
These imports rose by 16.7 percent in the January-June period reaching about 20 million tonnes.
To remind, China’s LNG imports hit an all-time high last year rising 11.5 percent when compared to the year before.
The world’s top energy consumer imported 67.13 million tonnes in 2020, cementing its position as the second-largest LNG importer, after Japan.
Boosted by strong demand, China is expected to overtake Japan as the world’s top LNG importer this year.
Japan has still not released June numbers but the country received 4.95 million tonnes of LNG in May, down 2.08 million tonnes compared to China’s volumes. In the January-May period, Japan received 33.18 million tonnes, slightly down compared to China’s imports.