Russell: Asia's LNG consumption is muted in April, while Europe's demand eases.
In April, Asia's LNG imports remained muted while Europe began to show signs that the seasonal slowdown was beginning as winter demand dwindled.
According to commodity analysts Kpler, Asia is expected to receive 22,40 million metric tonnes of super-chilled fuel in April.
It's down from the 22.68 millions tons of March, but it's slightly up on a daily basis because April is one less day than March.
It's also lower than the 23,32 million tons recorded in the same month last year. This is largely due to the fact that China, the top LNG buyer, has reduced its imports.
Kpler estimates China's imports in April at 4,77 million tons, down from 4,89 million tons in March. This is 27% less than the 6.5 millions tons of April 2024.
The lower demand is mainly due to higher spot prices, which would have occurred when cargoes arriving in April were arranged.
Spot LNG delivery to North Asia
Even though the price of LNG has dropped to just $11.80 per million Btu for the week ending April 25, it is still unlikely that LNG will be competitive with other fuels in China.
The trade war between the United States and China, in which the two largest economies of the world have imposed increasing tariffs on imports from each other, is another factor that has impacted China's LNG consumption.
China has not imported LNG from the largest exporter of the world in the last two months. This marks the end of a trade which saw the country import 4,32 million tons (or about 5.5%) from the United States by 2024.
US EXPORTS
The United States was able to find buyers in Asia for its LNG, as imports increased to 1,48 million tons from 730,000 in March.
It's not a surprise that the three largest buyers of U.S. LNG are Japan, South Korea and India. They will likely offer to purchase more U.S. Energy as part of trade negotiations with President Donald Trump.
Kpler estimated that the United States was also the biggest LNG supplier to Europe in April, with an estimated 5.88 million tonnes of LNG imports.
The number of LNG imports was lower than the record-breaking 7.04 million LNG imports in March. This was achieved when Europe was importing LNG to replenish its inventories after the winter demand depleted them.
Although the April LNG imports to Europe from the United States were at their lowest in four months it is worth noting that these imports were still far above the average monthly imports in 2024 of 3,76 million tons.
According to Kpler, this shows how important U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas has become for Europe.
The total LNG imports in Europe for April were estimated at 10,44 million tons. This is down from 12,74 million in the previous month, which was also the second highest month ever.
The decline in Europe's imports of LNG after winter is a seasonal phenomenon, but they are now structurally higher since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent loss of much of its pipeline natural gas supply in February 2022.
The United States has more than met the increase in April 2025, when imports were 1.79 million tonnes higher than the same month of last year.
The imports of Russian LNG to Europe have been on a slight decline. In April, the arrivals were 1,38 million tons compared to 1.60 million for the same month in 2020.
The challenge facing European LNG importers is to achieve their ideal of cutting Russian cargoes, while being able to satisfy demand.
There is no other alternative to the United States, but since virtually all LNG importers, except China, are trying to purchase more U.S. Energy in order to appease Trump it's possible that there will not be enough U.S. Gas for everyone, even when the new production comes on line this coming year.
These are the views of a columnist who writes for.
(source: Reuters)
