According to China’s General Administration of Customs data, the country has now become the world’s second LNG importer, as it has surpassed South Korea in LNG import.
Namely, China increased its LNG imports by 46%, as it has imported 38.1 million tons of LNG during 2017. In the same period, the previous second LNG importer, South Korea, imported 37.6 million tons of LNG.
That is a big increase since 2016, when China imported 26.1 million tons of LNG, while South Korea had imported 33.5 million tons.
This increase is result of the country’s attempt to clean the air in its cities, by eliminating coal and promoting the use of natural gas. However, this caused some shortages in gas shortages during winter, because of the large demand.
The increase in gas consumption is expected to further expand over the next years, further improving China’s air quality. In fact, according to reports the country will receive about 4 million tons of LNG before mid-February.
