Amid strong domestic natural gas production and increased pipeline flows, China’s LNG imports are expected to record a vertical drop in September.
Specifically, according to Kpler data, Chinese LNG imports are estimated to amount to 5.4 million tons in September, recording a drop of around 22% on an annual basis. If the estimates are confirmed, this will be the eleventh consecutive month of declining imports on an annual basis.
As a Bloomberg publication highlights, Chinese demand for LNG imports is recorded as subdued, because domestic natural gas production is increasing and pipelines from Central Asia and Russia remain active. Indicatively, China’s natural gas production increased on an annual basis by approximately 6.1% until August, based on data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics.
Finally, weak domestic demand, combined with high international LNG spot market prices, are pushing Chinese importers to resell their cargoes.
