China’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports increased in 2019, according to data from the country’s General Administration of Customs data released on Tuesday. The data showed that the imports rose 8.5% year-on-year to a total of 20.61 million tons in 2019.
The growth was likely driven by an increase in propane imports by propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plants which saw new startups last year and relatively higher operating rates thanks to healthy processing margins. China imported 14.91 million tons of propane last year, rising by 10.8% from 1.45 million tons in 2018, customs data indicated.
China’s total propylene capacity has reached 5.66 million tons/year, which can feed on up to 6.79 million tons/year of propane if operated at full capacity. In 2019, Chinese PDH plants were estimated to run at 83% rates, suggesting that those plants consumed 5.64 million tons of propane.
The UAE was China’s largest LPG supplier in 2019, with a total shipment of 4.37 million tons. Qatar and Kuwait followed in the second and third spot with an overall delivery of 3.47 million tons and 2.26 million tons, respectively. Other suppliers include Oman (2.03 million tons) and Saudi Arabia (1.99 million tons).
