The US exported 4.4 million tons of liquefied natural gas in April, 2020, still a very high volume but down from 5.1 million tons in March.

US exports of LNG have trended upward strongly since 2017, with the highest volumes shipped in the last quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020.

Exports YTD totaled 19.6 million tons, up 88% from the same period in 2019 on higher volumes to Korea, Japan, Spain, France, Turkey, UK, Netherlands, India and many others.

The US began exporting to China in March of 2020 with a shipment that month of 295,000 tons at an average price of $199/ton. This was followed in April with 520,000 tons, the highest volume shipped to any one country that month, the average price at $197/ton. This compared with an average price across all destinations of $228/ton in March and $219/ton in April.

YTD through April the US has exported 816,000 tons of LNG to China, up 261%, the increase reflecting the Phase I Trade Agreement between the two countries. In all of 2019, US exports to China totaled 306,000 tons.

From International Trader Publications’ LNG World Trade Report, a continuously updated analysis of global trade in LNG.