July 13, 2020 [Argus] – China’s state-owned Sinopec received more LNG cargoes at its 6mn t/yr Tianjin LNG import terminal in northern China during the first six months of this year compared with a year earlier, despite disruptions from the Covid-19 outbreak in the country earlier this year.

Sinopec received 58 cargoes, or 3.78mn t of LNG, during January-June, up by 28pc from a year earlier. Around 4.25bn m³ of the LNG was regasified and distributed by pipeline, while around 768,000t was distributed by tanker trucks, it said. China received a total of 25.6mn t of LNG in January-May, up by 7.8pc from 23.74mn t a year earlier. China’s customs department has yet to release import data for June.

The Tianjin terminal also received its 200th cargo today, more than two years after the arrival of its first LNG cargo in February 2018.

The completion of the first phase of expansion in November doubled Tianjin’s receiving capacity to 6mn t/yr, allowing the firm to increase receipts this year. And the firm is accelerating the construction of a second phase of expansion, which is expected to lift import capacity to 10.8mn t/yr. Sinopec did not provide any timelines. The firm began construction on the second phase of expansion in April and said at the time that it expects completion in 2023, more than a year later than originally planned.

Tianjin is a key source of supply to northern China through Sinopec’s gas pipeline network. The second expansion phase will include the addition of five 220,000m³ storage tanks at the terminal and facilities that will lift gas transmission capacity to 13.6bn m³.

State-owned gas distributor Beijing Gas is developing the Tianjin Nangang LNG receiving terminal, which will be the port city’s third LNG terminal. The facility will have a peak capacity of 6.18mn t/yr and Beijing Gas aims to bring the facility on line at the end of 2022. State-owned CNOOC also operates the 2.2mn t/yr floating storage and regasification unit at Tianjin.

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