China’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports rose for the sixth month in a row in July, according to customs data.
Data from the General Administration of Customs shows that the country received about 5.86 million tonnes in July, a rise of 24.3 percent when compared to the same month last year.
China imported 39.24 million tonnes of LNG during January-July, up by 9.3 percent compared to the same period last year, the data shows.
In June, China’s LNG imports increased by 24.4 percent to 5.96 million tonnes.
The country’s LNG imports rose by 31.5 percent year-on-year to 6.41 million tonnes in May, while in April imports rose by 10.3 percent to 4.77 million tonnes, and in March China received 5.36 million tonnes of LNG, up by 16.9 percent when compared to the last year.
February LNG imports increased by 8.2 percent to 5.21 million tonnes, while January LNG imports dropped by 24.2 percent to 5.91 million tonnes.
Including pipeline gas, China’s gas imports rose by 7.6 percent year-on-year to 66.87 million tonnes in January-July.
The country’s pipeline gas imports rose by 12.4 percent in July to 4.45 million tonnes, the data shows.
World’s largest LNG importer
Japan was the world’s top liquefied natural gas importer in 2022, overtaking China, but both of the countries took fewer volumes when compared to the year before.
However, China has overtaken Japan in the first half of this year and the country increased its lead during July.
Japan’s LNG imports dropped by 17.4 percent year-on-year in July to about 5.09 million tonnes, while the country imported some 37.71 million tonnes of LNG during January-July.
Including July volumes, China imported some 1.53 million tonnes of LNG more than Japan during the seven-month period.
