US LNG exports to China have become collateral damage in the ongoing trade war,with sales plunging in the first three months of 2019 versus year-earlier levels.Data collected by Energy Intelligence show that China,the world's second-largest LNG buyer after Japan,took in just 2.7% of all US LNG exports,or three cargoes,in the first quarter of this year.That made China the 11th largest buyer of US gas-and the US its 10th largest supplier,behind even Cameroon.By comparison,China absorbed 21% of US LNG sales over the same period of 2018,with a total of 16 cargoes,with only South Korea buying more. The plunge occurred even as US LNG exports and Chinese LNG imports soared.The US exported 111 cargoes worldwide in the first quarter of this year,up from 77 a year earlier,while Chinese imports rose from 175 cargoes to 228 cargoes,according to Reuters Eikon ship-tracking data.
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