Japan imported 8.07mn tons of LNG in February, up fractionally on January’s 8.06mn tons and a three-year high. Combined volumes of 16.13mn tons for the first two months of 2021 are up 14% year-on-year, and also comfortably above China’s 14.04mn tons to retain Japan’s position as the world’s top LNG importer. However the 8.49mn tons that China imported in January (MEES, 26 March) is the highest ever monthly figure for any country, beating Japan’s record 8.43mn tons set in January 2015.
Australia is comfortably Japan’s largest supplier with 2.38mn tons for February, 29.5% of total imports. Global LNG king Qatar was second with 1.01mn tons, just ahead of the USA which with 950,000 tons equaled its record set a month earlier. (CONTINUED - 192 WORDS)