*China’s LNG imports fell by 1mn tons to 5.67mn tons for July but this was still up 640,000 tons year-on-year for the highest July figure on record. At 45.8mn tons for 7M 2021, volumes are up 26% year-on-year. China remains on pace to overtake Japan for the first time this year as the world’s top LNG importer despite Japan moving ahead of China for the first time in four months in July when it recorded imports of 6.55mn tons according to data intelligence firm Kpler (see chart).