China imported 1.78 million mt of LPG in January, up 23.3% from December but down 9% year on year, latest General Administration of Customs data showed Tuesday.
The country exported 81,657 mt of LPG in January, down 17.2% on month and down 16.7% on year.
As a result, China’s net LPG imports were up 26.3% on month at 1.7 million mt in January, according to S&P Global Platts calculations based on the customs data.
Market sources attributed the month-on-month rise in LPG imports to restocking by importers before the Lunar New Year holidays, healthy cracking margins at propane dehydrogenation plants and firm winter demand from household users.
China’s PDH plants had a theoretical processing margin of Yuan 1,935/mt ($281/mt) in December, up 8% month on month, which spurred buying interest for cheaper feedstock propane in January, market sources said.
Saudi Aramco set its January Contract Price for propane at $430/mt on an FOB basis, down $15/mt from December. Spot refrigerated propane cargoes on a delivered basis to China were estimated to have fallen by $31/mt in January from the month before, Platts calculations showed.
China imported 1.36 million mt of propane in January, up 32.2% from December and down 3.3% on year, and 407,680 mt of butane, up 1.3% on month and down 23.4% on year, the customs data showed.
Platts calculates China’s LPG imports by adding the propane and butane figures to those categorized as “other LPG” under HS code 7111990. This is to reflect China’s imports of liquefied gases more accurately.
According to the customs department, the definition of “other LPG” is a complex combination of hydrocarbons produced by the distillation of crude oil.
Market sources said it could be mixed gas containing many hydrocarbons and that it was mainly imported or exported on trucks. Both imports and exports of “other LPG” are much lower than that of propane and butane.
The UAE was the main supplier of LPG to China in January at 479,245 mt, up 97% on month but down 13% on year, followed by Qatar at 350,558 mt and Kuwait at 242,131 mt.
LPG imports from the US remained close to zero in January due to the ongoing trade war between the two countries.
