Liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the Gladstone port in Australia’s Queensland decreased 1.7 percent year-on-year in May despite a rise of 23.2 percent in China volumes, according to the monthly data by Gladstone Ports Corporation.
Curtis Island is home to the Santos-operated GLNG plant, the ConocoPhillips-led APLNG terminal, and Shell’s QCLNG facility. These are the only LNG export facilities on Australia’s east coast.
GPCC’s data shows that about 1.89 million tonnes of LNG or 28 cargoes left the three Gladstone terminals on Curtis Island last month.
This compares to about 1.92 million tonnes of LNG or 29 cargoes in May 2023, the data shows.
May LNG exports also dropped compared to the previous month when LNG exports reached some 1.98 million tonnes of LNG or 30 cargoes.
Moreover, most of May LNG exports (1.44 million tonnes) landed in China, marking a rise of 23.2 percent compared to 1.17 million tonnes last year.
The rest of the Gladstone LNG exports in May landed in South Korea (259,494 tonnes), and Malaysia (186,271).
Volumes to South Korea rose compared to 226,018 tonnes last year, while volumes to Malaysia dropped compared to 248,353 tonnes last year.
Compared to May 2023, there were no exports to Japan and Singapore last month.
The three Gladstone terminals shipped about 22.97 million tonnes of LNG or 350 cargoes in 2023.
This compares to about 22.64 million tonnes of LNG or 354 cargoes in 2022.