The world’s top three buyers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are ramping up their imports of fuel in November, 2021 drawing more cargoes than Europe, which is currently struggling with gas inventories.

According to forecasts, the big three buyers, all from Asia– China, Japan and South Korea– are forecast to purchase 17.77 million tonnes of fuel in November 2021, according to data compiled by Kpler.

This is up from 15.41 million tonnes in October, 2021, and will be the highest monthly total for the world’s top three buyers since February 2021, when a total of 19.01 million tonnes of fuel were discharged.

Based on data compiled by Refinitiv (a global provider of financial market data), imports from the big three buyers show an increase, while pegging their November 2021 imports at 16.62 million tonnes, up from 15.13 million in October 2021.

“[Though] it can be said that there is strong demand from the three major northeast Asian countries, same cannot be said for buyers in South Asia, where imports have fallen amid record high spot prices,” according to Clyde Russel, Asia Commodities & Energy Columnist, Thomson Reuters.

India is on track to import just 1.51 million tonnes of LNG in November 2021– the lowest since April 2020, at the height of the initial outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Kpler. This would be well below the 2.33 million tonnes reached in October 2021, and a similar 2.33 million tonnes in November 2020.

November imports for Pakistan are forecast to decline to 700,000 tonnes from 730,000 in October 2021 and the lowest monthly total since June 2021. Bangladesh is expected to land 360,000 tonnes in November, down from October’s 530,000 tonnes.

Australia Remains China’s Top LNG Supplier Amid Tensions

Meanwhile, Australia remains China’s top LNG supplier despite tensions between both countries that have led to China imposing informal import bans and tariffs on a number of Australian commodities such as coal, barley and lobsters.

China is expected to import 2.99 million tonnes of Australian LNG in November 2021, the most since May 2021 and representing a share of just over 40% of the total.

Japan, which stands the risk of losing the number one spot among LNG importers to China, is expected to land 6.04 million tonnes in November, up from 5.19 million in October 2021, although declined slightly from 6.3 million in November 2020.

South Korea, the world’s number three buyer, is forecast to import 4.36 million tonnes in November 2021, up from 4.07 million in October 2021 and above 3.86 million from November 2020.

Europe, on the other hand, is still struggling to secure enough natural gas in the upcoming winter, with pipeline supplies from Russia still inadequate. Currently, Europe’s inventories of gas are below the five-year average needed for this time of the year.

Despite the potential shortage of natural gas this winter, Europe’s LNG imports haven’t surged, and November’s arrivals are expected to be lower than those for October 2021.

Europe is expected to import 5.99 million tonnes of LNG in November 2021, down from 6.03 million in the previous month, although ahead of the 4.82 million from November 2020.

The import figures show that Europe is buying more LNG than it did at this time last year. However, given that 2020 was affected by the coronavirus pandemic, it will be important to look at imports from November 2019, which were 8.56 million tonnes.