China snaps up over US$2 billion of Russian LNG as energy trade bucks economic downturn
- China bought a total of 2.35 million tonnes of LNG – valued at US$2.16 billion – from Russia in the first six months of the year
- Except for Russia, all other major LNG suppliers to China have seen a drop in their trade volumes this year
Despite a suppressed appetite for energy amid its economic downturn, China has been absorbing more Russian natural gas so far this year, while imports from most other sources declined.
In the first six months of the year, China bought a total of 2.35 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) – valued at US$2.16 billion – from Russia, detailed Chinese customs data released on Wednesday showed.
The import volume increased by 28.7 per cent year on year, with the value surging by 182 per cent, according to the Post’s calculations based on the customs figures.
The increase in Russian LNG could be a displacement of cargoes going to Japan or South Korea because of sanctions, or weaker demand there
“The increase in Russian LNG could be a displacement of cargoes going to Japan or South Korea because of sanctions, or weaker demand there,” said Michal Meidan, director of the China Energy Programme at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
For pipeline natural gas, Russian producer Gazprom announced that its daily supplies to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline had reached a new all-time high on Tuesday, breaking the previous record which had been set just two days earlier.
“Currently, Gazprom carries out the gas supplies above the contractual daily volumes,” the company said in a statement.