China’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports dropped by 34 percent in October when compared to the same month last year, according to customs data.
Data from the General Administration of Customs shows that the country received about 4.03 million tonnes in October, compared to about 6.17 million tonnes last year.
October imports also dropped when compared to the prior month’s 5.90 million tonnes.
During the January-October period, China took some 50.51 million tonnes of LNG, down 21.6 percent when compared to the same period last year.
China’s LNG imports dropped this year mainly due to very high spot LNG prices and Covid lockdowns, which affected economic activity.
On the other hand, China’s pipeline gas imports increased in January-October.
Pipeline imports rose by 10.6 percent to 38.23 million tonnes during the period while in October these imports increased by 11.5 percent to 3.58 million tonnes, the data shows.
China became the world’s largest LNG importer last year, overtaking Japan, but the latter regained the title this year.
During the January-October period, Japan imported some 60.35 million tonnes of LNG, or about 9.8 million tonnes more than China.