China imported 13.51 billion cubic meters of natural gas in May 2023, including pipeline supplies and LNG. This figure is a historical maximum for May.
Demand in May 2023 is 19% higher than May 2022, according to Chinese customs. It is also important that it significantly exceeded imports in May 2021 (13.28 billion cubic meters), when anti-COVID measures were gradually weakened.
One of the main drivers of the global energy market in 2023, after the lifting of restrictive measures, is precisely the growth of the Chinese economy. A more detailed foreign trade summary, broken down by LNG and pipelines, and broken down by country, will be released by national customs in the coming weeks.
China receives pipeline gas from five suppliers: Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Myanmar, Interfax writes.
In May 2023, the average cost of gas imports decreased to $373 per thousand cubic meters, which is the lowest value in the last 22 months – since August 2021.
