Oil & Gas

China’s LNG Imports to Post Decline This Year for First Time

 

High prices and weak manufacturing due to pandemic-related lockdowns have reduced China’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports this year, which are likely to post an overall decline for the first time.

Even for shipments arriving in July, industrial consumers are not placing orders, a Chinese trader said, as gas use has fallen further this month due to the Covid-19 resurgence.

China became the world’s top LNG buyer last year but surrendered the top spot back to Japan in the first four months of 2022 as imports sank 18% from a year earlier, Refinitiv data shows.

LNG imports are likely to fall as much as 19% this year – by up to 15 million tonnes – in what would be the first sizeable drop since China began importing the gas in 2006, according to forecasts by S&P Global Commodity Insights, Wood Mackenzie and SIA Energy.

Li Ruipeng, a gas retailer in the northern industrial city of Tangshan, said his clients – gas refuelling stations, steel mills and zinc-coating plants – are buying half the volume of a year ago.

“Business is terrible,” said Li, who owns a 10-trailer fleet to distribute the fuel.  “High prices are another killer as many of my clients can’t possibly pass on the cost when their business orders shrink.”

Factories have been running “severely below capacity for nearly half a year”, Li said as companies reduced output during environmental checks by the authorities and for pollution curbs around February’s Beijing Olympics.

 

  • Reuters, with additional editing by George Russell

 

READ MORE:

CNOOC to Spend $2.4bn on China’s Largest LNG Tankers

 

Japan to Step Up Funding of LNG Projects Amid Energy Crisis

 

ADNOC Unit to Supply Floating Storage for Manila LNG Terminal

 

 

George Russell

George Russell is a freelance writer and editor based in Hong Kong who has lived in Asia since 1996. His work has been published in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, New York Post, Variety, Forbes and the South China Morning Post.

Recent Posts

China’s Shenzhou-16 Rocket Takes Astronauts up to Space Station

The astronauts will replace the three-member crew of the Shenzhou-15, who arrived at the space…

3 hours ago

Singapore Ousts Hong Kong as APAC’s Costliest City for a Home

A heavy influx of immigrants and a trend among young professionals to move out of…

3 hours ago

Elon Musk Reaches China, Meets Foreign Minister Qin Gang

The trip is Musk's first to China since he made headlines in early 2020 by…

5 hours ago

Japan Plans to Beam Solar Power From Space by 2025 – engadget

The country made a breakthrough in space-based solar energy back in 2015 and now says…

5 hours ago

India May Cut Import Tax on Solar Panels Amid Domestic Shortage

Government sources said the import tax may be halved, and GST cut, because local producers…

6 hours ago

China Strains, AI Top of The Agenda at US, EU Summit Talks

A 24-page draft joint statement focuses on AI algorithm standards, export controls and China’s non-market practices and disinformation

7 hours ago