From buyer to broker: China’s emergence as a global LNG reseller
Over the last decade, China has transformed from the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) buyer into a major global reseller. Plateauing domestic demand, a ballooning portfolio of long-term contracts, and a structural pivot by state-owned enterprises into LNG shipping and trading are positioning Chinese companies as significant competitors to traditional suppliers as the market ...
In recent years, China has shifted from being the world's largest consumer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to becoming a significant global reseller. This transformation is driven by declining domestic demand, a large inventory of long-term contracts, and a strategic reorientation by state-owned enterprises towards LNG shipping and trading.
Chinese imports of LNG have dropped from 79 million tonnes (Mt) in 2021 to 66Mt in 2025, with further reductions expected to 63Mt in 2026. Despite these declining imports, Chinese companies have signed nearly 60Mt of new supply agreements between 2021 and 2023, leading to a surplus of contracted volumes. Ship-tracking data indicate that resales by Chinese-chartered vessels amounted to 8.4Mt in 2025, with total Chinese LNG resales estimated to be between 17Mt and 19Mt, primarily targeting South Korea, Japan, and the Netherlands.
The shift is fueled by a rise in flexible long-term contracts, especially from Australia and the United States (US). Australian LNG volumes have allowed China to optimize its LNG portfolio across the Pacific, while US supply has been utilized for arbitrage in the Atlantic region. Chinese buyers have reportedly earned USD4.6 billion from reselling Australian and US LNG since 2021.
Looking ahead, with LNG contracts projected to reach 114Mt by 2028 and demand constrained by cheaper alternatives, China is likely to remain overcontracted in the medium term. Projections suggest an LNG surplus of between 11Mt and 48Mt by the early 2030s. State-owned enterprises, such as China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and PetroChina Company Limited (PetroChina), are expanding their LNG shipping and bunkering operations to manage surplus volumes, investing in LNG carrier fleets, and leveraging major Chinese ports as transshipment and re-export hubs.
This emergence of China as an LNG reseller challenges the assumptions of current LNG export investments, turning suppliers into competing market players.
Written by urgent.news from Hellenic Shipping News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
