OREANDA-NEWS. Chinese importers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are planning to purchase this raw material in Russia, as it is sold at a large discount to the market price. It is reported by Bloomberg, citing sources and traders, RIA Novosti writes.

“State-owned companies [of China], including Sinopec and Petroshina, are negotiating with suppliers to purchase spot LNG shipments from Russia at a big discount,” the agency said.

According to traders, Russian LNG is sold at a discount of more than 10% compared to what is supplied from Central Asia. At the same time, China is currently not experiencing an acute shortage of LNG due to warm weather and reduced covid fears, however, the purchase of such cheap raw materials will allow the country to replenish its tanks before the seasonal rise in prices.

Sources also noted that traders now prefer not to make large purchases, and a number of importers are considering using Russian firms to participate in tenders for the purchase of LNG on their behalf in order to hide their plans from the authorities of other countries.

Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that despite the imposition of sanctions against Russia, China will continue to buy natural gas from Russia and maintain regular trade contacts.