South Korea LNG imports down 15.2 pct in July

Imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by South Korea, the world’s second-largest buyer of the chilled fuel, dropped 15.2 percent year-on-year in July, according to the customs data.

South Korea imported 1.92 million mt of LNG in July, as compared to 2.26 million mt in the corresponding period in 2015.

The country paid US$584 million for July imports, down 44 percent on year, the data showed.

Most of the LNG imports in July came from Qatar (822,265 tonnes), down 25.8 percent as compared to July in 2015.

The rest of South Korea’s LNG imports in July were sourced from Indonesia, Oman, Malaysia, Australia, Angola, Brunei, and Russia.

To remind, state-owned Kogas that handles almost all of the LNG imports into South Korea said last week its sales volume dropped 2.8 percent in the first half of this year to 16.75 million mt of LNG.

The company’s sales into the power sector dropped down 8.2 percent in January-June as South Korea used more coal and nuclear for power generation.

Kogas sold 2.19 million tonnes of LNG in July,  a rise of 15.2 percent on year.

LNG World News Staff