LNG imports into China, the world’s top buyer of the super-chilled fuel, continue to be weaker than the prior-year month for the eighth consecutive month in June, according to ship-tracking data from Kpler cited by Bloomberg.
China is on track to import about 5 million tons of LNG this month, per Kpler’s data. This volume, if confirmed, would be a 12% decline compared to June last year.
Record-high domestic coal production and weaker coal-fired power generation in China have resulted in declining demand for thermal coal imports into the world’s biggest coal market, with the trend emerging earlier this year, after imports topped 500 million tons in 2024. The Chinese state central planner, meanwhile, has mandated a 10% increase in coal stockpiles for power generators.
Over the first four months of 2025, China produced 1.58 billion tons of coal, which was 6.6% higher than the output booked for the same period a year earlier. In April alone, China produced 3.8% more coal than a year ago, at 389.31 million tons. This was down from a month earlier when production hit a record, but still strong enough to cement coal’s role in the country’s energy mix.
At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at just over $65 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate at $61.71 per barrel, after on Friday the Trump administration announced a tariff exemption for certain electronics and semiconductors. Optimism wavered this week, however, as Washington launched investigations into pharmaceutical and semiconductor imports in what the media reported was part of setting the stage for tariffs on these two groups of products. President Trump himself said semiconductors were on the line for tariffs.
Portugal will increase purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States and Nigeria, as it aims to end imports of Russian gas, Environment Minister Maria da Graca Carvalho said on Tuesday. According to data from electricity and gas grids operator REN, Portugal imported 49,141 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of natural gas in 2024, of which around 96% was LNG.
Western sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including the looming Feb. 5 embargo and price cap on refined products, have been pushing Russian fuel oil barrels eastward into Asia at attractive discounts since last year