By Irina Slav
China's imports of liquefied natural gas are on course to book their second consecutive monthly decline because of significantly higher prices driven by the war in the Middle East.
September LNG flows to China are seen at 5.3 million tons, according to Kpler data cited by Bloomberg today. This would be 8% lower than LNG imports for September 2025, but slightly higher than August flows, which Kpler estimated last month at 5.2 million tons.
China is one of the biggest buyers of liquefied natural gas globally but has curbed purchases as prices on the spot market topped $20 per million British thermal units in August, reaching $26 per mmBtu in early September, per earlier Kpler data. That's about a twofold increase in prices from a year ago.
Higher prices are discouraging other Asian energy importers from LNG purchases as well, with Kpler forecasting earlier this month total Asian inflows at the lowest in eight years, to 20.09 million tons, versus 22.27 million tons in September last year.
For China, August and September have been a reversal of a buying spree that began in May. Over the course of three months, China was buying LNG at rates higher than last year's. Separately, China's giant state LNG importers are reportedly in talks to secure long-term LNG supplies from exporters that don't need the Strait of Hormuz, as the world's biggest LNG buyer seeks to reduce its exposure to gas deliveries from the Persian Gulf.
China will not be seeking to cancel its binding contracts with Qatar, but it is exploring options to reduce its exposure to Gulf supply. Qatar, meanwhile, just extended its force majeure on exports of the superchilled fuel, which is bound to keep prices elevated for longer as demand picks up ahead of heating season in the Northern Hemisphere.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
