China buys record amount of Russian energy

China purchased record volumes of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) last month, while imports of oil and coal have also surged, according to a Chinese customs report issued on Tuesday.

Despite a 5.4% drop in China’s total LNG purchases, Russian exports of the super-chilled fuel doubled in November compared to last year, and reached 852,000 tons worth $815.6 million. In annual terms, LNG sales from January to November surged by 39% from a year earlier to 5.82 million tons. Sales of the fuel to the Asian country jumped 150% over the same period, to $6.1 billion.

Russia has also become China’s second largest natural gas supplier after Turkmenistan, as deliveries have grown by 177% in dollar terms, reaching $3.5 billion over the first 11 months of the year. China, however, has not specified how much gas it has bought from Russia during that timeframe.

Russia boosted oil deliveries to China by 17% in November from one year earlier to 7.81 million tons, the highest total since August, overtaking Saudi Arabia as the country’s top supplier. Russian crude shipments to China over the first 11 months surged by 10.2% to reach 79.78 million tons, according to the report. In terms of value, Russian oil supplies to China in the mentioned period were worth $54.49 billion – 50% more than last year.

Coal imports from Russia, including brown coal, rose 41% to 7.2 million tons. Supplies of coking coal for the steel industry have doubled compared to last year, amounting to 2.1 million tons, but were lower than the record hit in September.

Data has shown that overall purchases of Russian energy, including oil products, hit $8 billion in November, from a revised $7.8 billion in October. The total now stands at $68 billion since the beginning of the year, compared to $41 billion over the same period last year. The record for a single month was registered in August with Russian fuel exports reaching $8.4 billion.

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