China has overtaken Japan as the world’s largest importer of LNG, adding to a long list of commodities where the People’s Republic ranks as the number one consumer.
Customs data from China and Japan show China bought 6.65m tonnes of LNG in August while Japan purchased 6.3m tonnes.
In total, the eight-month stats show China has unloaded 51.898m tonnes of LNG while Japan imported 51.378m tonnes.
“Strong economic performance, supportive government regulation and investment in LNG and gas infrastructure have led to an extended period of growth for China’s LNG demand,” ICIS LNG Edge said in a recent note.
A raft of LNG newbuilds are under construction at yards in China to handle the nation’s expected continued growth in gas imports.
