Chinese December Gas Imports Hit Record

China’s natural gas imports (LNG and pipeline equivalent) hit a fresh record in December as demand grew driven by harsh winter and the government’s continuing preference for gas over coal for power generation.

According to data published by the Chinese customs department January 12, Asia’s biggest economy imported a record 7.89mn metric tons of gas last month, up 30% year on year. The previous record was in November 2017 when China imported 6.55mn mt of gas.

During the January-December period, the accumulated import of natural gas was 68.57mn mt, up 27% year on year. These figures are higher than the total imports in the whole of 2016 (54mn mt). The customs department converts all gas into metric tons of LNG equivalent.