Beijing (JLC), August 11, 2020--China reduce natural gas imports in July when the domestic market was bearish amid a supply glut.

The country imported 7.347 million mt of natural gas in July, down by 6.88% and 11.84% year on year and month on month respectively, data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) shows. Imports dropped as the domestic glut supply was aggravating, though the cost of imports decreased against last year.

Three consecutive months of increases came to an end in July, after the arrival of most of the cargoes purchased intensively when the import cost plunged.

The total imports from January to July ended at 55.97 million mt, an increase of 1.9% from the same period in 2019, the GAC data shows.

The natural gas imports are expected to be stable at the current level in August, as the demand at home and abroad is sustaining weak amid COVID-19. Growth of the gas imports in the remaining months of this year are likely to slow due to global economy downturn, though the coal-to-gas consumption switch will keep on in China.