The trade pattern is reconstructed, and the natural gas price center is rising

China, Japan and South Korea will import more LNG in 2021. According to Statista data, in 2021, China's LNG import total of 10.95 billion cubic meters, the world's largest LNG importer, import market share accounted for 21.3%; Japan ranked second with 10.13 billion cubic meters of imports, accounting for about 20%, and South Korea's LNG import market share in 2021 accounted for 6.41 billion cubic meters of total imports, accounting for 12.6% of market imports. China, Japan and South Korea are the top three countries in the global LNG import market share, accounting for 53.9% in total, and are the most important LNG importing countries, with a significant difference in LNG imports from other countries.

Japan's LNG tank capacity ranks first in the world. From the perspective of national storage tanks, Japan's LNG storage tank capacity ranks first in the world, with 182 million cubic meters. China's storage tank capacity ranks second, reaching 13 million cubic meters. South Korea's capacity is second only to China's, at 12.26 million cubic meters. Japan, China and South Korea have significantly higher tank capacity than other countries, and the gap is significant. The storage tank capacity of Spain, India, the United Kingdom and the United States is 0.33 million cubic meters, 0.27 million cubic meters, 0.21 million cubic meters and 0.2 million cubic meters, respectively.

China's LNG imports have maintained a rapid growth, and the import sources are mainly LNG exporters. According to Statista data, China's total LNG imports continued to grow from 2014 to 2021, and China's LNG imports in 2021 were 716 million metric tons, an increase of 6.63%. From the perspective of import routes, imports from Australia, the United States and Qatar account for a relatively high proportion, accounting for 39.90%, 11.30% and 10.90% respectively in 2021.

China has accelerated the construction of LNG receiving stations, and its receiving capacity has continued to improve. As of 2021, China has put into operation of LNG receiving stations have reached 22, according to SiaEnergy statistics, as of the first half of 2021, China's LNG receiving capacity reached 88.8 million tons/year, an increase of 25%. The rapid development of LNG receiving stations in China has effectively filled the supply gap of natural gas and played an important role in coordinating the supply of natural gas throughout the country. In 2021, China will receive imports of LNG78.93 million tons, and imported LNG is an important part of China's natural gas consumption.

1.2. Pipeline gas: By the end of 2020, the scale of China's pipeline network project ranks first in the world

By the end of 2020, the Asia-Pacific planned pipeline network construction project ranks first in the world. From the perspective of pipeline networks under construction, by the end of 2020, the total mileage under construction in the world is 54,573 kilometers. The network mileage under construction in the Asia-Pacific region is 27,669 kilometers, ranking first in the world, accounting for 50.7% of the total network mileage under construction in the world. In addition, Europe and Latin America ranked second and third, with 5,911 km and 5,479 km under construction. From the perspective of planned construction pipeline network, the mileage of pipeline network to be built in the Asia-Pacific region is 45,925 kilometers, accounting for 38.0% of the global total pipeline network to be built, and the number of pipeline networks to be built ranks first in the world. In addition to Asia Pacific, the number of pipeline network miles to be built in Africa is higher, reaching 20,446 kilometers.

By the end of 2020, China's planned expansion mileage of natural gas pipelines and the mileage under construction both ranked first in the world. In terms of countries, China plans to build 14,466 kilometers of pipeline length and 15,001 kilometers of pipeline length under construction, ranking first in the world, with a total pipeline mileage of 29,467 kilometers to be built and under construction. India, Russia, the United States and Australia have a total pipeline mileage of 20,440 km, 17,053 km, 11,001 km and 8,537 km respectively.

The largest source of imported pipeline gas is Turkmenistan. According to Wind data, China's pipeline natural gas imports in 2021 will be 53.24 billion cubic meters, an increase of 18.13%. From the perspective of import routes, in 2021, China will import 24 million tons of natural gas from Turkmenistan, accounting for 56% of the total import volume of pipeline natural gas, in addition to Turkmenistan, the other major importers are Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, accounting for 18%, 11% and 8% respectively.

Domestic natural gas pipeline "a national network" has been basically formed. From the perspective of the development and construction of China's natural gas industry, in 1963, China's first gas pipeline, namely Bayu gas pipeline, was completed. Since then, regional gas transmission networks have been formed in Sichuan, Daqing and other places. In 2005, the construction of natural gas infrastructure entered a period of rapid development, and major national projects such as large-caliber and long-distance West-east gas pipeline, Shaanxi-Beijing natural gas Pipeline, and Sichuan-East gas pipeline were completed. From 2018 to 2020, China will focus on trunk pipeline interconnection, opening up key areas such as Tianjin, Guangdong, Guangxi and Zhejiang, and solving the problem of uneven gas demand across China. At the same time, it accelerated the construction of natural gas import channels, and promoted the construction of Central Asia, China-Myanmar, China-Russia Eastern route natural gas pipelines, as well as LNG receiving stations in coastal areas of Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong and other supporting gas pipelines. At this point, China's northeast, northwest, southwest and offshore four major imported natural gas pipelines have all been connected, and an interconnected, flexible and safe natural gas pipeline network transportation system has initially taken shape.