China's Sinopec has purchased about 10 liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes for delivery between November and March next year, likely to meet an anticipated increase in demand during winter, four industry sources said on Thursday.
The company bought the cargoes on S&P Global Platts' Japan-Korea-Marker (JKM) linked pricing basis through a tender, the sources said.
It paid a slight premium to JKM for a cargo to be delivered in November and at a discount of up to 10 cents per million British thermal units (mmBtu) for the rest of the cargoes, two of the sources said.
Gas demand in China typically rises during winter to meet heating needs.
China's total natural gas imports, which include LNG and piped gas, reached 9.36 million tonnes in August, up from both 7.35 million tonnes in July and 8.34 million tonnes in August last year, customs data showed.
Its LNG imports rose to about 6 million tonnes in August, up about 12 per cent from the previous month and the highest monthly import since January, this year, shiptracking data from Refinitiv Eikon showed.
