In tight global market, well-positioned China resells record LNG volumes

SINGAPORE/BEIJING — Chinese firms are reselling record volumes of LNG, cashing in on soaring spot prices as China has enough domestic and pipeline gas to meet its own weakened demand, in stark contrast to other Asian buyers scrambling to replace supplies cut off by the Iran war.

The world's top importer of liquefied natural gas, China reloaded eight to 10 cargoes in March, its highest monthly total on record, according to analytics firms ICIS, Kpler and Vortexa.

So far this year, China has reloaded a record 1.31 million metric tonnes of LNG, or 19 cargoes, with 10 delivered to South Korea, five to Thailand and the remainder to Japan, India and the Philippines, Kpler data showed.

By comparison, China resold 0.82 million tonnes in 2025 and 0.98 million tonnes in 2023, the second-highest annual total on record.

The country has been able to resell bigger volumes as its own need for LNG has plateaued, with weaker economic activity sapping industrial demand while domestic gas production and pipelined Russian supply is growing.

The LNG reloads contrast with China's move last month to ban exports of refined fuels in order to preserve supply for domestic use amid war-driven crude oil supply constraints.

"Against a backdrop of weak domestic demand, it made more sense for buyers to resell LNG cargoes overseas," said Wang Yuanda, an analyst at ICIS, adding that the Iran crisis has also pushed up spot LNG prices.

"There has been no pressure from demand because the heating season is over, and spot prices are good so China can reload cargoes."

Asian LNG prices have jumped 85 per cent since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb 28, disrupting energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz which carries about a fifth of global LNG flows.

CNOOC's Binhai terminal in Jiangsu province accounted for almost half of China's reloads in March, Vortexa analysts said in a report.

Import slump

China, Qatar's biggest LNG market, took nearly a quarter of the Gulf producer's shipments last year. Those exports troughed in March after Iran bombed Qatar's gas facilities and largely shut the Strait of Hormuz.

Kpler data shows China's March imports at 3.68 million tonnes, their lowest monthly level since April 2018.

"The drop in imports reflects subdued industrial gas demand amid high prices since the Hormuz disruptions. Meanwhile, the outlook for pipeline gas imports and domestic gas production remains stable," said Kpler analyst Nelson Xiong.

"Chinese buyers can also rely on LNG inventory drawdowns to meet some domestic demand."

ICIS expects April imports to remain low at 3.7 million tonnes.

"China will not enter the market and fight for cargoes with other countries at all," said Wang.

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