Global Markets: China LNG imports hit record in December

China’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports hit a record high in December, customs data showed on Monday, driven up as the country pushes towards cleaner fuels. 

The world’s No.2 economy shipped in 3.73 million tonnes of LNG in December, topping the previous record of 2.66 million tonnes in November and up from 2.10 million tonnes a year ago, the General Administration of Customs said.

China’s government in 2014 launched a ‘war on pollution’ to reverse the damage done by decades of untrammelled growth.

Trade flow data on Thomson Reuters Eikon shows that Australia and Qatar exported the most LNG to China in December. Australia shipped 22 cargoes, equivalent to 1.5 million tonnes of LNG, according to that data, while Qatar exported 9 cargoes.

For the whole of 2016, China’s LNG imports rose 32.8 percent to 26.06 million tonnes, China’s customs data showed.

The nation’s December diesel imports climbed 166.1 percent from the same month a year earlier to 110,000 tonnes, while kerosene imports fell 2.3 percent on the year to 290,000 tonnes.(source: Reuters)