February increase for Asian giants

China and Japan reported surging LNG imports in February.

Japan’s imports jumped to 7.67 million tonnes last month, a 22.5% increase on February 2011, according to the Finance Ministry.

The country, the world’s largest LNG market, continues to suffer from dismally low nuclear power plant utilisation following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Customs data show that China brought in more than 832,000 tonnes of the fuel in February, a 26% gain compared to a year earlier.

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