The recovery in China’s imports of liquefied natural gas is expected to extend for another month in January, Kpler has reported, for a total of three consecutive months of higher LNG imports year-on-year.
The analytics provider estimates that China will import 6.94 million tons of LNG this month, as quoted by Bloomberg, which added the amount would represent a respectable 15% increase on January 2025. According to the report, the import increase may suggest more cargoes getting delivered to China under long-term contracts.
Over most of last year, China recorded annual declines in its LNG imports, resulting from the U.S. president’s tariff offensive against the world’s biggest energy importer, to which China responded with its own tariffs on LNG, and from rising domestic production.
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. The decline was partially driven by a record year for gas imports in 2024 as China sought to fill its inventories to be ready for winter.
Between November 2024 and October 2025, China recorded 12 straight months of LNG import declines. This trend reversed in November 2025, when the seasonal increase in demand for electricity and heating prompted a tick-up in LNG imports. The November total stood at 6.94 million tons—the same as what Kpler projects for January. That volume represented a 13.6% climb on the year. In December, imports moved higher still, to an estimated 7.17 million tons, per Kpler.
LNG imports from Russia specifically hit an all-time high at the end of last year, with the November total at 1.6 million tons, up twofold on October and likely to have continued strong into December and possibly this month as well.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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