29% Y-O-Y: China LNG Import Continues Peaking in June
According to China’s General Administration of Customs, China’s LNG import peaked to 5.79 million tons in June, further peaking to 29% Y-O-Y growth after June’s 19% growth record, and China’s LNG import in the first half of 2020 reached 31.45 million tons, up 11.16% Y-O-Y.
China’s PNG import remained at lows in June at 2.54 million tons, down 15.02% Y-O-Y, and the 1H 2020 PNG import totaled at 17.18 million tons, down 7.38% Y-O-Y. In total, China’s natural gas import reached 8.33 million tons in June, up 6.24% M-O-M and 11.52% Y-O-Y, while 1H 2020 import reached 48.63 million tons, up 3.82% Y-O-Y.
In June, the import cost of LNG further dropped to $326.17/mt, down $32.83/mt or 9.14% from May and $120.10/mt or 26.91% from last June. The PNG import cost in June also dropped to $301.19/mt, up $0.33/mt or 0.11% from May but down $62.83/mt or 17.26% from last June.
The mysteriously missing import volume of May between the shipping data and import data showed in CGAC’s June statistics and help June’s import creating a new recorded high in summer season and the highest Y-O-Y growth from 2019’s April. Supported by the global supply glut, low import price and the motivated buyers, it is expected that China’s LNG import will remain at highs in the rest summer season, and the annual import growth is expected to surpass SCI’s previous baseline forecast at 9% and further buoy to an optimistic 11% level.
