China imported a total of 19.85 million tonnes of LNG in the first quarter of 2024, an increase of 20.43% compared to 16.48 million tonnes a year ago, data from the General Administration of Customs of China showed.
Source: OilChem
The increase was attributed to a low base in 2023 when domestic production was still low after China newly scrapped the covid-zero policy, coupled with lowering imported LNG prices that attracted domestic importers' buying, learned from OilChem.
The average imported price stood at Yuan 4,133/t in Q1 2024, down 23.40% compared with Yuan 5,100/t in Q1 2023, and falling 8.60% from Yuan 4,522/t in Q4 2023, according to OilChem, primarily due to high international LNG inventory amidst weak demand.
Source: OilChem
For supplying countries, the imports mainly came from Australia, Qatar, Malaysia and Russia, with volumes of 6.28 million tonnes, 5.23 million tonnes, 2.32 million tonnes and 1.67 million tonnes respectively, an increase of 17.28%, 11.96%, 22.79% and 1.86% from the prior year. The imports from the four countries account for 78.09% of China's total LNG imports in the first quarter.
Source: OilChem
Separately, the imports in South China came in at 7.19 million tonnes, accounting for 38.24% of the total station import volume, followed by East China, accounting for 31.78% of the total imports in China, followed by South China and North China, accounting for 31.78% and 29.98% respectively.
Written by Sunny Fang, fss@oilchem.net
Edited by Aggie Hu, huchenying@mysteel.com