China's LNG imports hit monthly record in Nov amid gas supply crunch

Shipments in November rose 53 percent to 4.06 million tonnes compared with the same month a year earlier, according to data released on Saturday by the China’s customs bureau. That beat the previous record of 3.733 million tonnes set in December 2016.

Year-to-date, LNG imports were 33.13 million tonnes, compared with 26.15 million in the same period of 2016, pointing to 2017’s imports setting a full-year record.

Gas shortages deepened in December, with some cities putting quotas on residential purchases and chemical plants in southern provinces shutting in order to cope with the supply crunch.

Constraints on infrastructure such as LNG receiving terminals and storage facilities have meant China has limited space to further increase its LNG shipments, analysts have said.

Meanwhile, China’s diesel exports exports rose 37.6 percent in November to 2.03 million tonnes from the same month a year earlier.

Gasoline exports were 1.04 million tonnes in November, up 11.2 percent from the same month a year ago.