China Natural Gas Import Hits 8.66 MMt in Sep, +6% Y-O-Y
According to the latest statement of China General Administration of Customs (CGAC), China’s natural gas import remained at highs in September and hit 8.66 million tons, dropping by 7.47% from August’s unusual high import level but continuously rising by 6% from 2019’s same period. The 2020 accumulative natural gas import from January to September reached 71.14 million tons, up 3.7% Y-O-Y.
Herein, according to SCI’s shipping monitoring, the LNG import in September is expected to be around 5.7-5.9 million tons, another significant high growth rate over 10% for the sixth month in a row (based on shipping data instead of CGAC data), and the piped gas import is considered to be around 2.8-3 million tons, slippering back to previous weak figures but with different reasons.
As for the LNG import, the LNG CIF/DES price in September was still favorable and was not impacted by the rising NEA prices yet. On the other side, China’s LNG terminals enjoyed not only the stable and predictable regas schedule but also the ramping LNG truck loading at the domestic market that recorded a 55% Y-O-Y growth in September. As for the piped gas import, all main import tunnels resumed normal operation, but China’s piped gas supply reached the most sufficient season, while most underground storage facilities reported over-input in September. Compared with the domestic gas field output which is requested to remain at highs and the LNG import which has the cost advantage, the buying appetite for piped gas import is expected to stay mild before the winter heating season.
