China has been reselling record volumes of LNG to other Asian buyers since the start of the Middle East war, diverting up to 10 cargoes in March alone – mainly to South Korea, Thailand and Japan. More re-exports are on the cards in April.
While many Asian countries scramble to amble to replace lost Qatari LNG volumes, China has been cashing in on sky-high gas prices by offloading excess LNG cargoes.
Most of the diverted cargoes were sold into a tight Asian market, where the Japan-Korea Marker for April delivery soared to about $25.393 per MMBtu in early March and since receded to $19.35 per MMBtu. One cargo sold on the Platts MOC platform was priced at $24.15 per MMBtu for delivery from PipeChina Tianjin to Glencore.
Year-to-date, Chinese energy majors resold some 1.31 million tons of LNG – the highest amount on record, according to Kpler data, and more than all volumes Chinese companies re-exported during 2025 entirely.
Benefitting from rising domestic gas production and ample pipeline gas imports from Russia, the Peoples’ Republic imported record low levels of LNG – just about 3.7 million tons in March, Kpler data cited by Bloomberg shows. This would be a 25% plunge compared to China’s import in March 2025 as hard-nosed Chinese buyers are staying clear of costlyspot cargos. Instead, they are understood to re-export cargoes at a substantial premium.
Inventory buffer provides short-term relief in the face of Middle East supply constraints, with China’s LNG storage estimated at approximately 51% by end-March, compared to below 45% in Japan. These stocks, alongside Chinese cargo diversions within Asia, shift the region’s peak restocking season to June–July rather than April–May, Kpler analysts reckon, suggesting this gives global LNG market some respite, albeit short-lived. (April 16, 2026, Source: https://lngjournal.com/index.php/latest-news-mainmenu-47/item/116087-china-cashes-in-on-re-selling-lng-into-tight-asian-market)
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