China's August LNG Imports Spike

China’s LNG imports in August witnessed strong year on year growth as demand remained strong.

After witnessing a sharp year on year growth in July, China’s LNG imports continued the uptrend in August as well. According to China’s customs department data published September 23, country’s LNG imports in August were 4.71 million metric tons, up 51.5% on year. China imported 4.15mn mt of LNG in July, up 33.8% year on year.

Cumulative imports in January-August were 32.63mn mt, an increase of 47.8% from the same period a year ago. At this rate Asia's biggest economy will end up importing record volumes this year as well. 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.