Letter from China: Australia’s LNG dominance under threat

Beijing may be planning to break its reliance on its Antipodean supplier

LNG stands out as one of the few commodities left relatively unscathed by the deterioration of China-Australia relations over the past few years. But Beijing is taking steps that could erode Australian dominance of Chinese gas imports in the long term. The tension between Beijing and Canberra has already cost Australia its dominant market share in China for goods including barley, beef, wine and coal—all commodities for which China has easily been able to find alternative sources. Australian LNG has been harder to substitute, given the binding, multibillion-dollar long-term contracts signed between state-owned Chinese buyers and Australian export projects, and also the fuel’s importance to e