China's net imports of LPG fell to 729,789 mt in May after rising for four months in a row. The imports fell 23% from 944,603 mt in April, data released Thursday by the General Administration of Customs showed.
Net imports of LPG, however, were up 19% from 615,026 mt a year ago, the data showed.
China imported 852,044 mt of LPG in May, down 15% from April, while it exported 122,254 mt, up 92%.
Propane imports were 593,713 mt in May, down 26% from April, while exports were 49,328 mt, up 128% month on month, leading to net imports of 544,385 mt in May, down 30% from 775,767 mt in April.
Butane imports were 258,330 mt in May, up 23% from April, while exports were 72,926 mt, up 74% on month.
Net butane imports were thus 185,404 mt in May, up 10% from 168,836 mt in April.
China typically cuts propane imports in summer due to weaker seasonal demand from residential and commercial customers.
"The stability of propane decreases with the increase of temperature which also dampens buying interest for the grade in summer," a trader in South China said.
Besides, propane continued to be more expensive than butane in May, which hit buying interest, local traders added.
The pre-tax import cost of propane averaged $574/mt in May, down slightly from $599/mt in April. The pre-tax import cost of butane averaged $558/mt in May, up from $515/mt in April.
The pre-tax import cost of LPG averaged $569/mt in May, compared with $581/mt in April and $901/mt a year ago.
The May import value equates to around Yuan 3,971/mt ($649.41/mt) after adding customs duty and VAT, according to Platts calculations.
In the domestic market, spot imported LPG cargoes traded at an average of Yuan 4,000/mt in south and east China in May, slightly higher than the import cost of the grade in the month, according to Platts weekly LPG data.
The UAE continued to be the top supplier of LPG to China in May as also in the first five months of this year.
China's LPG imports from the UAE were 465,418 mt in May, down 24% from 574,959 mt in April, but still up 28% from 333,801 mt a year ago, the customs data showed.
China's LPG imports from the UAE have risen sharply over the past two years.
Sources said the figures likely included volumes from Iran as some Chinese buyers had signed LPG term contracts with Iranian companies for delivery in 2015, but no Iranian cargoes were recorded in the data.
The US remained the second-largest LPG supplier to China in May at 197,020 mt, as well as over January-May at around 1.1 million mt.
Hong Kong and Vietnam were the top two buyers of Chinese LPG in May.
