Global #LNG Imports Resume Growth!

More LNG is being traded than a year ago for the first time since the virus upended demand

Global imports in October increased 3.8% from a year earlier, the first monthly y/y gain since May and the largest increase since March

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The rebound can be primarily attributed to an increase in demand from larger end-users in Asia, which have mostly weathered the pandemic better than Europe or the US

China and South Korea saw the biggest annual increase. But Pakistan, Bangladesh, India also boosted imports a bit

It should be noted that China’s imports were particularly weak in October 2019 due to an outage at the Rudong LNG terminal

Meanwhile, Korea boosted imports to make up for unplanned outages at nuclear plants

Still, it wasn’t a rosy picture across all of Asia

Deliveries into Japan, the world's top LNG importer, slumped quite a bit amid weaker electricity consumption. Folks were expecting more LNG deliveries as a bunch of nuclear reactors enter planned maintenance

Annual imports into Western Europe plunged 25% amid a surge in Covid-19 cases, forcing some nations to reintroduce lockdowns

Global exports of the fuel were roughly on par with last year’s level

(Output increased by 8.7% from September)

U.S. deliveries jumped to the highest level since March as prices recover overseas and massive terminals start new units

Meanwhile, exports from Australia and Qatar increased above last year's levels

Exports from Norway, Trinidad & Tobago and Nigeria were weak in October amid unplanned outages and maintenance