China’s Latest Trade Data Highlight Russia’s Lead in Pipeline Gas as Russian LNG to China Declines

Overview

• Chinese customs data for January–September show Russian pipeline gas exports to China up 18.9% year over year to $7.29 billion, placing Russia first among pipeline suppliers.
• September pipeline purchases from Russia totaled $802.2 million, a slight month-on-month increase of $2.4 million.
• Russia’s LNG deliveries to China fell 16.6% to 4.99 million tonnes in the nine-month period, with value down 20.1% to $2.83 billion, leaving Russia third among LNG suppliers.
• Despite the year-to-date decline, Russian LNG shipments to China jumped 43.8% in September from August to 975.5 thousand tonnes, with value up 25.5% to $478.2 million; Australia remains the top LNG supplier and Qatar is second, while the U.S. ranked tenth with no sales from March to September.
• Separate customs and national statistics show China’s petroleum-product exports to the U.S. dropped 46% to $516.2 million in January–September, and Georgia reported whisky exports to Russia more than doubling to 1,796.4 tonnes worth $4.7 million.