China’s LNG imports continued to rise in September on the back of high demand from the power generation and industrial sectors.
The world’s largest energy consumer imported 6.75 million tonnes of LNG last month, a rise of 19.2 percent year-on-year, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.
Imports rose compared to the previous month as well. China received 6.65 million tonnes of LNG in August.
During the January-September period, China imported 58.48 million tonnes of the fuel, the data said. Compared to the same period last year, LNG imports rose by 22.7 percent.
China’s pipeline gas imports also increased by 32.1 percent to 3.87 million tonnes in September.
These imports rose by 21.5 percent in the January-September period reaching about 31.37 million tonnes.
China’s LNG imports hit an all-time high last year rising 11.5 percent when compared to the year before. The country 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 is yet to release LNG import data for September, but it received about 0.47 million tonnes less LNG than China in the January-August period.