Asia's scramble for LNG to replace output cut off by war in the Middle East is drawing more cargoes away from Europe, with at least one US shipment switching its destination to China, which would end a year-long halt in such imports due to tariffs.
The conflict that began with US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28 has halted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting supply from Qatar - the second-biggest LNG exporter after the US - causing buyers to compete for spare cargoes.
Shiptracking data from analytics firm Kpler showed the UMM Ghuwailina, Elisa Ardea and Pan Americas tankers signalling for European ports before changing destination to Asia.
The UMM Ghuwailina picked up a cargo from Plaquemines LNG in the US state of Louisiana on March 1 and signalled its destination as Zeebrugge in Belgium before changing to Tianjin in China, Kpler data showed.
The cargo would be the first from the US to arrive in China since Mu Lan discharged at Zhangshou in February last year before tit-for-tat tariffs between Beijing and Washington made such imports uncompetitive.
China suspended a 24 per cent top-up tariff on US goods for one year but retained a base 10 per cent imposed in November. Tariffs on US energy goods, including 15 per cent on LNG, also remain, leading Chinese importers to divert US-sourced cargoes elsewhere.
"The vessel is still quite far from China and near the Brazil coast at the moment... It could still change its route along the way," said ICIS senior analyst Yuanda Wang.
US LNG does not have a cost advantage under current tariff levels, Wang said.
"Even if tariffs were removed, the delivered cost would still remain above $10 per million British thermal units, higher than the price of imported pipeline gas into China."
Asian buyers of liquefied natural gas have been paying around $20 to $25 per mmBtu for March and April delivery.
Apart from the UMM Ghuwailina, the Elisa Ardea which loaded at Freeport LNG in the US state of Texas was set for the Netherlands before diverting to Taiwan.
The Pan Americas loaded at Bonny LNG in Nigeria and was on course for Croatia before turning toward Asia via the Cape of Good Hope.
(Reporting by Emily Chow in Singapore and Sam Li in Beijing; Additional reporting by Nora Buli in Oslo; Editing by Christopher Cushing)