(Bloomberg) — China’s liquefied natural gas buyers are boosting imports as falling prices and the need to replenish inventories end months of sluggish deliveries.
The 30-day moving average for LNG imports to China have been above the five-year average so far for August, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Earlier this month, Beijing Gas Group Co. purchased at least two shipments for September, while Zhejiang Energy bought a cargo, according to traders with knowledge of the matter.
This marks a reversal for China, which had cut imports for months after a mild winter left storage facilities full. At the same time, elevated international spot prices prompted importers to scale back overseas purchases and even resell cargoes into more lucrative markets abroad. Instead, gas firms relied more on cheaper domestic supply and pipeline imports.
However, Asian LNG prices have been on the decline and are trading in the low-to-mid $11 per million British thermal units range, roughly the lowest since April. That is a level which makes imports profitable for sales into some of China’s domestic markets, traders said.
Chinese firms have also become more active in optimizing supply. Several cargoes for September delivery were bought and sold by Chinese firms in the low-$11 per million Btu range on Friday, according to traders.
Still, the buying may taper off as Chinese firms refill inventories drained over the last few months. Demand for gas hasn’t significantly picked up, and the recent purchases are more to take advantage of better prices and refill stockpiles, traders said.
Industrial users of the fuel in northern China may have to halt or reduce operations in late August to cut pollution during a military parade in Beijing, ENN said on its data platform earlier this month.
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