The balance of power among the world’s largest LNG importers in 2022 has changed completely – with a huge gap to first place going to the European Union as a collective buyer, the second place was occupied by Japan, and China from first place in 2021, moved to third.

EU

According to Gas Infrastructure Europe, the EU used a total of 98 million tons of LNG in 2022 (127 billion cubic meters of gas after gasification), which again makes it the cumulative largest LNG importer in the world.

Japan

Japan cut LNG imports by 3 percent to 71.997 million tons in 2022, the country’s Finance Ministry said Thursday. The average price of LNG imports in 2022 has almost doubled to $657 per thousand cubic meters after $384 in 2021. Meanwhile, the spot price in the region (JKM Platts index) was at $1,214 per thousand cubic meters in 2022.

China

LNG shipments to the PRC in 2022 are expected to be about 63 million tons, which, with any actual result of customs statistics for December, is significantly below the volume of Japanese purchases.

For the first 11 months of 2022, China imported 65.935 million tons of LNG, down 8% from January-November 2021. December could add up to another 7 million tons.

The main reason for the decrease in energy imports in 2022 by 2021 is the imposition of strict restrictions to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection.

Chinese buyers against the background of anti-cooking restrictions at home and the frenzy of demand for LNG in Europe skillfully maneuvered in the spot market, reaching the optimal price of gas supplies. After Europe filled its UGS to capacity, PRC buyers took advantage of the price drop and ramped up purchases at the end of the year.

Earlier we reported that Europe’s economy was surprisingly resilient.