Global seaborne LNG trades continued to surge during the first half of this year, helped to a significant extent by the events in the Ukraine.
In the first six months of 2022, global LNG loadings increased by 6% year-on-year to 202.8 mill tonnes, based on Refinitiv vessel tracking data, reported Genoa-based broking house Banchero Costa.
About a 4.9% y-o-y growth pattern was recorded in the same period last year.
The biggest 1H22 rise was US exports, which recorded a huge 18.8% y-o-y increase in shipments to 41.6 mill tonnes.
This has propelled the US to become the world’s largest seaborne exporter of LNG, accounting for 21% of global volumes, ahead of Australia (20%) and Qatar (19%). Russia is in fourth place with a 8% share of the market.
Russian shipments actually increased in the first half of this year, by 8.8% y-o-y to 17 mill tonnes - the highest on record. On the other hand, shipments from Qatar have stagnated for years, and decreased by 1.4% y-o-y to 39 mill tonnes during the period, due to minor outages, Banchero Costa said.
Western Europe
Looking at the destinations, Western Europe led the way, as the region tried to move away from Russian pipeline gas.
The European Union (EU27) bloc was the world’s largest seaborne importer of LNG, with a 24% share in the first half of 2022, ahead of Japan with 19%, Mainland China with 15%, and South Korea with 11%. The UK overtook India to attain fifth place and accounted for 5% of global imports.
In 1H22, the EU27 imported 48.8 mill tonnes of LNG, which represents a 59.8% y-o-y increase from the 30.5 mill tonnes recorded in the same period of 2021 and is by far, an all time record.
In terms of individual countries, in descending order, France imported 12.5 mill tonnes, Spain 11.8 mill, Belgium 5.7 mill, 5.6 mill went to the Netherlands, 5.2 mill to Italy, 2.4 mill to Portugal, and finally, Poland with 2 mill tonnes.
Significant growth was also seen in UK imports, as in 1H22, the level rose by 43.3% y-o-y to 10.6 mill tonnes, from 7.4 mill tonnes reported in 1H21.
In terms of European supply, there was a huge jump in US LNG volumes. In the first six months of this year, the EU imported 22.1 mill tonnes of LNG from the US, up by 159.7% y-o-y from 8.5 mill tonnes in 1H21. The US also accounted for 45.3% of all seaborne LNG imports into Europe during the period.
Despite all the sanctions talk, Russian volumes did not decline. In 1H22, the EU imported 8.8 mill tonnes of LNG from Russia, up by 36.9% y-o-y, compared to 6.4 mill tonnes in 1H21, another all time record, accounting for 18.1% of the EU’s total LNG imports.
May proved to be a record month for Russian LNG imports into the EU when 1.7 mill tonnes was imported, a rise of 35.8% y-o-y from May, 2021.
West Africa was in third place amongst the top suppliers to Europe, shipping 5.7 mill tonnes to the EU, up 18.3% y-o-y, accounting for 11.7% of the EU’s total LNG imports.
On the other hand, imports from Qatar were sluggish, as the EU imported 5.6 mill tonnes of LNG from Qatar, up 3.4% y-o-y from 5.4 mill in 1H21, accounting for 10.5% of the EU’s total seaborne LNG imports.
Shipments from North Africa to the EU also increased by 7.4% y-o-y to 4.2 mill tonnes, from 3.9 mill in 1H21.
