Asia LNG price recovery, an indicator of China's rebound?

LNG prices in Asia are on the rise after reaching record lows in February amid the COVID-19 pandemic. By the 24th of March, Wuhan – ground zero for the coronavirus outbreak – reported no new cases of the virus for five consecutive days, and LNG prices had posted week-on-week gains for several weeks straight.

While Chinese imports of LNG are expected to be down in Q1, with March taking the hardest hit (down some 23% YoY), we are now starting to see an upturn in LNG charter rates and expected loadings for April delivery in China, signaling a recovery could be on the horizon.