China, the world’s largest liquefied natural gas importer, increased its LNG imports by 3.4 percent in May compared to the same month last year, according to customs data.
Data from the General Administration of Customs shows that the country received 6.57 million tonnes during the last month.
During January-May, China imported 32.42 million tonnes of LNG, a rise of 18.1 percent year-on-year, the data shows.
This also compares to 33.22 million tonnes China imported during January-May in 2021, which was a record year for China’s LNG imports with 78.93 million tonnes.
Growth in May LNG imports slowed compared to the other months this year.
In January this year, China’s LNG import terminals took 7.25 million tonnes of LNG, up by 22.9 percent year-on-year, in February LNG imports rose by 15.2 percent to 5.95 million tonnes, in March LNG imports increased by 25.1 percent to 6.65 million tonnes, while in April LNG imports increased by 31.5 percent to 6.22 million tonnes, customs data previously showed.
Natural gas imports, including pipeline gas, during the last month reached about 11.33 million tonnes, rising 6.5 percent compared to some 10.64 million tonnes in May 2023.
China’s pipeline imports rose 12.7 percent year-on-year in May to some 4.77 million tonnes.
Chinese buyers were buying spot LNG cargoes during this year due to low JKM prices.
Asian spot LNG prices were below $10/MMBtu from the second half of January and until the second half of April.
However, JKM rose last month for the first time this year above $12/MMBtu.
JKM for August settled at 12.575/MMBtu on Monday.
World’s largest LNG importer
China’s LNG imports rose 12.6 percent in 2023, and the country overtook Japan as the world’s largest LNG importer.
The country received about 71.32 million tonnes in the January-December period.
This is a rise compared to about 63.44 million tonnes of LNG in 2022 when imports dropped due to very high spot LNG prices and Covid lockdowns.
China’s 2023 LNG imports dropped compared to record in 2021.
In 2024, Japan imported about 22.95 million tonnes during January-April, down by some 2.9 million tonnes compared to China’s volumes.
Official data for Japan’s LNG imports in May is not yet available.