Russia has turned to Asia’s biggest gas market to offset declining shipments to Europe, which was Moscow’s biggest buyer for decades until the invasion of Ukraine. It has had to cut prices to increase its appeal — its LNG was the cheapest among the 12 suppliers to China and about 10% below the average at US$9.85 a million British thermal units in November, the customs data showed.
Total imports had an annual increase for the first time in more than a year, after weak demand tempered requirements.
China in August started importing shipments from Russa’s sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 plant through its remote Beihai terminal. Nevertheless, the Russian facility has had to cut output as winter ice complicates exports.
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China hasn’t imported US LNG since February, partly because of trade conflicts and weak demand. Major domestic companies are also increasingly diversifying their sources, while trying to sell contracted volumes on global markets, which is easier for American contracts that don’t tend to have destination clauses.
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