Gas imports also rose sharply in August, climbing 11.5% month-on-month to almost 12 million tons, Commerzbank's commodity analyst Carsten Fritsch notes.
The extent to which this is due to the upward trend in pipeline imports and/or whether China has increased its demand on the global LNG market will only be revealed later this month."
"However, there are signs that China, which contributed to easing pressure on the Gas market in the first half of the year because imports were almost 8% below the previous year's level, will see stronger demand again in the second half of the year."