China’s November gas imports drop

Natural gas imports during the last month reached about 10.79 million tonnes, down 1.4 percent compared to 10.95 million tonnes in November 2023, the data from the General Administration of Customs shows.

Gas imports rose compared to 10.54 million tonnes in the month before, which marked a rise of 20 percent year-on-year.

China paid about $5.3 billion for gas imports in November.

During January-October, China’s gas imports reached 120.24 million tonnes, a rise of 12 percent year-on-year.

The world’s largest LNG importer paid about $59.3 billion for gas imports in January-November, up 4.1 percent compared to the same period in 2023.

China’s LNG imports

There is no official data for China’s LNG imports in November.

China reported a jump in its LNG imports in October.

The country received 6.55 million tonnes in October, up 28 percent year-on-year.

China’s increased LNG imports were attributed to stronger gas demand from the electricity and transportation sectors, along with pre-winter restocking, according to GECF.

During January-October, China imported 63.55 million tonnes of LNG, a rise of 13.2 percent year over year.

This also compares to 64.50 million tonnes China imported during January-October in 2021, which was a record year for China’s LNG imports with 78.93 million tonnes.

China’s LNG imports rose 12.6 percent in 2023, overtaking Japan as the world’s largest LNG importer.

The country received about 71.32 million tonnes in the January-December period last year.

China will remain the world’s largest LNG importer this year.

Japan imported some 9 million tonnes of LNG less than China during January-October this year.