BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 19. In February 2024, the worldwide liquefied natural gas (LNG) reloads experienced a drastic decline, plummeting by 71 percent (0.59 million metric tons) year-on-year to a mere 0.24 million metric tons, marking the lowest monthly level since July 2023, Trend reports via the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF).
This decline in LNG reloads was primarily attributed to reduced reloading activity in China and Malaysia, with Belgium, France, Jamaica, and South Korea also witnessing minor decreases. From January to February 2024, LNG reloads dropped by 49 percent (0.59 million metric tons) year-on-year to 0.61 million metric tons. The sharp decline in LNG reloads from China and Malaysia was primarily driven by weakened spot LNG demand in Japan and South Korea, which historically have been the primary markets for LNG re-exports from China. Additionally, lower LNG re-exports to Puerto Rico contributed to curbing LNG reloads from Jamaica.
Contrastingly, global LNG exports in February 2024 saw a marginal uptick of 1 percent (0.35 million metric tons) year-on-year, reaching 33.95 million metric tons. Both Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) and non-GECF countries contributed to this increase in LNG exports, compensating for the decline in LNG reloads.
Non-GECF countries maintained their dominance as the leading LNG suppliers globally, securing a market share of 52.2 percent, up from 50.7 percent compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, the share of LNG exports from GECF Member Countries also experienced a slight increase from 46.7 percent to 47.1 percent, whereas the share of reloads sharply declined from 2.5 percent to 0.7 percent. Between January and February 2024, global LNG exports witnessed a robust growth of 4 percent (2.74 million metric tons) year-on-year, totaling 71.45 million metric tons, driven by contributions from both GECF and non-GECF countries. Notably, the United States emerged as the largest LNG exporter in February, closely followed by Australia and Qatar.
Follow the author on X: @Lyaman_Zeyn