LNG exports from the Gladstone port in Australia’s Queensland dropped by about 12.3 percent in March due to lower volumes going to China and South Korea, 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.
Last month, about 1,745 million tonnes of LNG or 27 cargoes left the three Gladstone terminals on Curtis Island.
This compares to 1,990 million tonnes or 31 cargoes in March 2022, the data shows.
Compared to the previous month when LNG exports reached some 1,862 million tonnes of LNG or 29 cargoes, March LNG exports dropped by about 6.3 percent.
Most of March LNG exports or 974,903 tonnes landed in China, marking a drop of 14 percent when compared to 1,134 million tonnes last year.
Besides China, volumes to South Korea dropped to 226,041 tonnes last month from 416,778 tonnes in the same month last year.
Malaysian volumes rose to 248,238 tonnes from 186,454 tonnes, while Gladstone LNG exports to Japan (187,657 tonnes) and Singapore (66,167) remained almost flat, the data shows.
GPC also reported that 42,478 tonnes of LNG were sent to Thailand in March.