Sour trade relations with China leads to ban on Australian LNG
At least two Chinese LNG importers have received instructions from Beijing to avoid buying LNG cargoes from Australia.
Souring trade relations between Australia and China have impacted the LNG business after the Chinese government ordered smaller LNG importers to avoid new imports from Australia, reports Bloomberg.
An unnamed source told the news agency that firms have received orders to avoid taking cargoes from Australia over the next year, but that larger state-owned importers haven’t received any guidance.
Bloomberg said a fax seeking comment from China’s National Development and Reform Commission, the nation’s top economic planning agency, wasn’t answered.
Beijing has targeted LNG before, adding tariffs on US imports in 2018, and the current ban echoes the order to halt Australian coal imports that was given to Chinese power stations last year.
