China’s imports of liquefied natural gas are on course to end the year with a jump, Kpler has reported, reaching 7.17 million tons after another strong month in November.
Citing the Kpler data, Bloomberg reported today that the December total will be modestly higher than the December 2024 total, but it would be the second month of LNG import increases in a row, following a long stretch of declines.
Indeed, in late November, forecasters were expecting another LNG import decline for the month but factual figures surprised, booking an annual jump of 13.6% to 6.94 million tons, customs data showed earlier this month. The increase followed 12 consecutive months of import declines. LNG imports from Russia alone surged to an all-time high of 1.6 million tons, up twofold on October, despite predictions of a decline in these imports as well.
Last year, China saw a surge in LNG and pipeline gas imports as it sought to fill its storage caverns. Over just the first half of the year, total natural gas imports saw an annual increase of 14.3%, reaching 64.65 million tons. After the rush to fill storage, imports of natural gas weakened as facilities were full at capacity.
This year, LNG demand has softened considerably as Chinese natural gas production continued to expand in line with plans to boost reliance on domestic energy commodity supply. Earlier in the year, domestic gas production hit an all-time high, bringing LNG imports to the lowest in six years, down by 19% on the year over the first seven months of 2025. Since then, the decline has continued, prompting forecasters to predict weaker imports throughout the year.
Despite the end-of-year jump in imports of liquefied gas, however, the annual total for 2025 is seen lower than the total for 2024, Bloomberg noted in its report. The decline is seen at 12%, with a further drop in imports predicted for 2026, at 9%.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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