Liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports into South Korea, the world’s second-largest buyer of the fuel, rose 6 percent in September, according to the customs data.
The country imported 2.37 million mt of LNG in September as compared to 2.23 million mt in the corresponding month the year before.
The customs data shows that Australia supplied more of the chilled fuel in September than Qatar, which has been the dominant supplier of the fuel to South Korea for years.
Australian LNG supplies to South Korea rose 175 percent in September on year to 0.67 million mt while Qatari volumes dropped 43 percent on year to 0.62 million mt, the data shows.
However, in the January-September period, Qatar remained the dominant supplier with 8.68 million mt of LNG as compared to 5.24 million mt Australia supplied to South Korea in the mentioned period.
The remaining volumes imported into South Korea last month were sourced from Russia, Oman, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and USA.
The average price for LNG imported in South Korea in September was at $8.09 per mmBtu, the data shows.
In the January-September period, South Korea imported 27.3 million mt of LNG as compared to 22.7 million mt in the same period last year.
South Korea is expected to continue boosting its imports of the chilled fuel for power generation as part of a plan to reduce reliance on coal and nuclear plants.
The country is also promoting the use of LNG as fuel and aims to build the world’s largest LNG-fuelled vessel in a push for green shipping.
LNG World News Staff