China's LNG Imports Keep Rising in July

After witnessing a strong year on year growth in June, China’s LNG imports continued the uptrend in July as well.

According to China’s customs department data published August 23, China’s LNG imports in July increased to 4.15mn mt, up 33.8% year on year. In June, China imported 3.97mn mt, up 31% year on year.

Cumulative imports in January-July were 27.94mn mt, an increase of 47.2% from the same month a year ago.

Demand for natural gas has been rising since the start of 2017 which has resulted in sharp growth in imports of LNG. China's 2017 LNG imports were a record 38.13mn mt, up over 46% on year, according to the Chinese customs department, which meant that China edged ahead of South Korea to become the world's second largest LNG importing nation after Japan. 

According to the trade body GIIGNL Chinese 2017 imports were even higher at 39.01mn mt, up 42.3%; it said 10.2mn mt – or 26% of those imports – were loaded on to trucks at receiving terminals.