China’s LNG imports in January increased to a record, due to an increase in residential heating demand during the winter, after the country’s transition to gas heating drove higher shipments. Namely, LNG imports in January grew by 27.8% to 6.58 million tonnes, compared to last year.
This amount of LNG shipment is the highest since December, when China had also reached a new high.
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According to Reuters, rising imports were partly caused by consumption from residential users in northern China, after the country’s decision to replace coal heating with gas, in spite of reducing demand from the industrial sector during a warmer-than-usual winter.
The country also changed 3 million more homes this winter to gas, something that could create 4.53 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas demand from November 15 to March 15 winter heating period.
Moreover, industrial gas demand in northern China is slowing down, because small manufacturers buy less gas, as they are not able to deal with a drop-off in export orders and costs related to Beijing’s pollution control and reform measures.
Finally, on February 14, customs indicated that China’s overall January natural gas imports, including LNG and gas brought in by pipeline, increased by 26.8% in comparison to 2018, reaching 9.81 million tonnes, which is a record high.
