What’s new: China’s imports of natural gas dropped 19.6% year-on-year to 8.1 million tons in April, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) fell 34.5% year-on-year.
Importers have been less willing to place spot trade orders this year due to high energy prices and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the GAC said. The average price of imported LNG was 4,423 yuan ($654) per ton last month, up 87% year-on-year.
The context: Global prices of crude oil and natural gas have jumped over the past year due to the supply disruptions from the pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia war, piling up pressure on China’s manufacturers as the country is heavily dependent on energy imports.
In 2021, China overtook Japan as the world’s largest LNG importer. But price hikes may slow growth of natural gas usage to 6% from last year’s 12.7%, said Yang Jianhong, chief researcher at Beijing BSC Energy Consulting.
Major industrial consumers like engineering, power generation and transportation companies are particularly sensitive to price changes, Yang said.
Zou Manyun contributed to this report.
Related: In Depth: How the War in Ukraine Is Rattling China’s Energy Transition
Contact reporter Guo Yingzhe (yingzheguo@caixin.com) and editor Flynn Murphy (flynnmurphy@caixin.com)
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