*LNG imports by the top five Asian buyers, at 177.6mn tons for the first nine months of 2024 are up just over 8% year-on-year but below the record year of 2021 (see chart 1). Despite Asia’s numbers three to five importers South Korea, India and Taiwan all being on pace to set new records this year, top importer China’s demand for incremental LNG has been crimped by record domestic output and pipeline imports, whilst number two Japan has seen LNG demand fall 12% over the past three years.