Liquefied natural gas imports into China, the world’s largest energy consumer, dropped 17 percent in July as compared to the same month a year ago, according to the General Administration of Customs data.
China imported 1.60 million mt of the chilled fuel in July, as compared to 1.92 million mt a year before, the data shows.
This is the first monthly drop in LNG imports into China this year.
Most of the July imports came from Australia, followed by Malaysia, Indonesia, Qatar, Norway and Papua New Guinea, according to the data.
The LNG import figures in January-July rose 14.6 percent on year to 13.10 million mt.
China is currently the world’s third largest importer of LNG and is expected to require large volumes of the chilled fuel over the next decade as it is seeking to cut its addiction to coal to reduce pollution.
LNG World News Staff