China's July Gas Imports Up 28% on Year

China imported 7.37mn metric tons of natural gas (pipeline and LNG) in July, up 28% year on year, customs data showed August 8. Gas imports were mostly unchanged month on month.

In the first seven months of 2018, China imported 49.43mn mt of gas, up 34.3% compared with the same period of 2017.

China’s gas imports have been trending higher since the start of 2017 as the government pushed households and industries to switch from coal to gas. During full year 2017, Chinese gas imports totalled 68.57mn mt, up 27% year on year. That included record Chinese LNG imports of 38.13mn mt, up more than 46%.