In the first 3 months of 2022, the EU imported 22.1 mln tonnes of seaborne LNG, up by +72.8% y-o-y from the 12.8 mln tonnes in the first quarter of 2021, according to statistics from broker Banchero Costa. This made the EU into the world’s top importer of LNG so far this year, with a 20.9% share of global imports, ahead of Japan’s 19.7% and Mainland China’s 15.7%.
In terms of sources for LNG shipments into Europe, there has been a huge jump in volumes from the United States. In the first 3 months of 2022, the EU imported 10.4 mln tonnes of LNG from the USA, up +234.8% y-o-y from 3.1 mln tonnes in 1Q 2021. The USA accounted for 46.9% of seaborne LNG imports into Europe in the first quarter of 2022.
Despite all the talk of sanctions, volumes from Russia have not declined, Banchero Costa report states. In 1Q 2022, the EU imported 4.1 mln tonnes of LNG from Russia, up by +49.1% y-o-y compared to 2.7 mln tonnes in 1Q 2021. This was an all time record. The EU has never imported as much LNG from Russia as this year. In fact, March 2022 was an all time record month for Russian LNG imports into the EU. In March 2022, the EU imported 1.6 mln tonnes of LNG from Russia, up +14.5% m-o-m from February 2022, and up +34.3% y-o-y from March 2021. In 1Q 2022, Russia accounted for 18.3% of the EU’s seaborne LNG imports.
West Africa is now in third place amongst top suppliers to Europe, shipping 2.8 mln tonnes to the EU in Jan-Mar 2022, up +27.0% y-o-y.