China's Mar LNG imports up 11% on recovering demand

China's imports of LNG stood at 6.65 million tonnes in March, up 11.71% month-on-month, data from the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (GACC) showed. The rise was attributed to an increase in domestic consumption due to the recovery of fuel gas vehicle and industrial LNG demand, as well as lower domestic LNG prices, according to OilChem.

The combined imports in the first three months reached 19.85 million tonnes, rising 21.16% from a year earlier, the customs data showed.

2023-2024 China LNG Imports

Source: GACC, OilChem

For supplying countries, the imports, mainly coming from Australia, Qatar, Malaysia, Russia and the US, reached a total of 5.51 million tonnes, accounting for 82.93% of China's total LNG imports of the month.

LNG Imports by Country of Origin

Source: GACC, OilChem

On the other hand, China exported 32,900 tonnes of LNG in March, surging 149.09% month-on-month, the customs data showed, mainly due to the surplus in the domestic market as a result of the scale of imports and recovering domestic production. The total exports in the first three months reached 127,100 tonnes, slumping 67.77% from a year ago.

2023-2024 China LNG Exports

Source: GACC, OilChem

China's LNG was exported into Malta, France, Hong Kong (China), Singapore and Liberia, with a total volume of 32,946.70 tonnes, a year-on-year decrease of 85.45%, the data showed.

LNG Exports by Country of Destination

Source: GACC, OilChem

Looking ahead, China's LNG imports are projected to jump 2.29% month-on-month to 6.50 million tonnes in April, as the lower international spot LNG prices will drive up importers' buying interest, while the exports will soar 24.62% month-on-month to 41,000 tonnes, becasue importers who purchase low-priced spot goods may take advantage of the international trading arbitrage to resell the LNG.

Written by Sunny Fang, fss@oilchem.net  Edited by Aggie Hu, huchenying@mysteel.com