China's LNG Imports Set to Drop 18% in August as Prices Soar
China’s liquefied natural gas imports are on track to slump by 18% in August from a year earlier, bucking a three-month-long trend of growing purchases this summer, as high LNG prices put off some price-sensitive industrial consumers, vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg showed on Monday. The average price of spot LNG for delivery into Asia nearly doubled this month from a year earlier, as the global gas markets continue to tighten amid intense Asia-Europe competition for supply that’s not trapped behind the Strait of Hormuz.
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Key Facts
- Fact 1: China’s liquefied natural gas imports are on track to slump by 18% in August from a year earlier, bucking a three-month-long trend of growing purchases this summer, as high LNG prices put off some price-sensitive industrial consumers, vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg showed on Monday.
- Fact 2: Asian LNG prices averaged $21 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in August 2026, compared to just $12 per MMBtu for the same month last year.
- Fact 3: Spot LNG prices in Asia last week hit a five-month high of $23.388 per MMBtu.
- Fact 4: After three months of higher LNG imports compared to a year earlier, China is not set to see its imports of the fuel down by 18% to about 5.2 million tons in August, per Kpler’s estimates cited by Bloomberg.
China’s liquefied natural gas imports are on track to slump by 18% in August from a year earlier, bucking a three-month-long trend of growing purchases this summer, as high LNG prices put off some price-sensitive industrial consumers, vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg showed on Monday. The average price of spot LNG for delivery into Asia nearly doubled this month from a year earlier, as the global gas markets continue to tighten amid intense Asia-Europe competition for supply that’s not trapped behind the Strait of Hormuz.
Asian LNG prices averaged $21 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in August 2026, compared to just $12 per MMBtu for the same month last year. Spot LNG prices in Asia last week hit a five-month high of $23.388 per MMBtu. The spot LNG price has been hovering at four-year high levels, as supply has tightened with the absence of Qatari term deliveries since the Iran war began.
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