GreenergyDaily

Aug. 27, 2025

China's imports of liquefied natural gas are poised to decline for a 10th straight month on a year-on-year basis, data from Kpler show, due to robust piped supply and higher domestic output.

Deliveries in August are expected to be around 5.93 million tons, according to the figures from Kpler, which track shipping data. That would be around 9% lower than a year ago when compared with official volumes.

China's LNG demand has been soft this year, mostly due to strong flows of piped gas from Russia and Central Asia, as well as rising domestic production. Higher international spot prices have also prompted the nation's importers to trim purchases, even reselling cargoes to capitalize on higher prices abroad.

Inbound shipments have ticked higher month-on-month as importers take advantage of lower spot prices and inventories are replenished. On a 30-day moving average basis, LNG flows were above the five-year average for most of the month, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

However, the rebound is unlikely to last due to softer industrial demand, and BloombergNEF sees China's 2025 imports 11% lower year-on-year.