Global number four LNG importer India took a bumper 2.08mn tons in June, the second highest figure on record, including a record 340,000 tons from Abu Dhabi (see data, MEES, 16 August). But, despite this, India’s overall imports of 10.5mn tons for 1H 2019 were down 9% year on year. Volumes from top supplier Qatar were down 14% at 4.4mn tons. For global number five importer Taiwan it’s a similar story with overall volumes down 5% at 8.0mn tons for 1H 2019 and those for Qatar down 6% at 2.5mn tons (see data, MEES, 16 August).
The final India and Taiwan figures mean overall imports for the world’s top five buyers (the top three are Japan, China and South Korea) were 105.6mn tons for 1H 2019. This is slightly higher than the provisional MEES estimate (MEES, 9 August), but still down 2.9% year-on-year, with Qatar’s supplies to the five countries down 13.6% at 21.6mn tons. (CONTINUED - 146 WORDS)