Data from the government and several analysts raised expectations that Pakistan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports would likely rebound in the coming couple months after posting a sharp decline in July.
Year-on-year, Pakistan’s June imports of LNG slumped by 25.4% to 570,000 mt. In the first half of 2020, imports slumped by 18.13% year-on-year to 3.59 mt, data provided by an analyst body said.
The country’s Bureau of Statistics posted more severe data for June’s imports, shrinking by 41% year-on-year with a value of USD166 million. In June 2019, the value was USD279 million.
In past Pakistan’s fiscal year which ran from July 2019 to June 2020, LNG imports were valued at USD2.662 billion, far below the USD3.336 billion in the previous fiscal year.
This year, spot LNG prices have been pressured by the coronavirus pandemic which crashed demand. Asian spot LNG prices JKM plummeted by more than 53% from the start of 2020 to USD2.463 MMBtu in July 20.
Analyst Shankar Talreja of Topline Securities opined that aside from the slumping demand for LNG caused by the shut down of many industrial units affected by the coronavirus pandemic, the import bill was also feeling the impact of the slump in crude oil prices.
However, Talreja estimated the LNG imports to rise until August and September due to the higher requirements from the power sector.
In anticipation of the demand increase, the state-owned Pakistan LNG Ltd. invited bids for the supply of three LNG cargoes of 140,000 cu m each to be delivered between August and September last month.
