You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
China-Japan-Koreas
China’s tariffs on US Liquefied Natural Gas to have long-term impact
2019-05-16
[DAWN] China’s decision to hike import duties on US liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a move that means very little for the market in the short-term, but it has the potential to deliver outsised consequences the longer the levies remain in place.

As part of its latest round of retaliatory tariffs on US imports, Beijing increased the duty on LNG shipments from 10 per cent to 25pc.

This will make it even more uneconomic for Chinese buyers to purchase LNG cargoes from the US. The 10pc tariff put in place last year has already devastated the trade, with China’s imports of the fuel dropping sharply.

China imported 25 US LNG cargoes in the first half of 2018, and this slipped to just eight in the second half, according to vessel-tracking data compiled by Refintiv.

This year, a mere three cargoes have been delivered, one each in January, February and March, and no more are currently scheduled to arrive in the coming months.

This means in practical terms that raising China’s import duty will have little impact on global LNG flows.

But there are certain to be longer-term consequences from the fastest-growing LNG market effectively locking out the world’s fastest-growing supplier.

Much of the new LNG coming on stream this year and next is based in the US, as companies rush to take advantage of the plentiful and cheap supplies of natural gas delivered by the nation’s shale boom.

It’s also worth noting that the US is the dominant player in the next wave of LNG projects being planned around the world.

The US currently has 64.2 million tonnes of annual LNG capacity under construction, the bulk of which will hit the market this year and next. Together with Canada, it also has a further 164.2m tonnes in capacity for which the final investment decisions are due by the end of next year.

The market expectation is that China will overtake Japan as the world’s largest LNG importer sometime in the next decade, even though its annual rate of growth will moderate from the breakneck pace of more than 40pc for the past two years.

Posted by:Fred

#8  I should amend that to their coming rockets. Vulcan, Blue's and SpaceX StarShip and StarShip Heavy.
Posted by: 3dc   2019-05-16 10:57  

#7  SpaceX, ULA & Blue Origin use LNG in their rockets so more and cheaper rockets/rocket fuel.
Posted by: 3dc   2019-05-16 10:55  

#6  I would not expect LNG imports to China from the US to be cost-competitive with LNG imports from Australia & nearby, or even the Persian Gulf, never mind with pipelines to the various Stans of western Asia.
Posted by: Glenmore   2019-05-16 10:45  

#5  In Trump's visit to Louisiana he mentioned that America's largest LNG production center, which will soon come on line, has already sold all its product for the next ten years.
Posted by: Chereting Pelosi1889   2019-05-16 08:01  

#4  make it 300%. Let em freeze
Posted by: Frank G   2019-05-16 07:20  

#3  More for me. And it will lower the price of fuel at home and help lower inflation. And make their costs go up and boost their inflation. Of course we'll compensate by producing somewhat less, but I don't think it's as bad for us as it will be for China.
Posted by: gorb   2019-05-16 06:43  

#2  Let them get it from the Russians.
Posted by: Raj   2019-05-16 00:51  

#1  Better to use the Nat Gas in this country to make our own plastic dog poop.
Posted by: Phimble Elmusonter1143   2019-05-16 00:42  

00:00