China eyes Iranian LPG option
Loss of US shipments of key petrochemical feedstock could see Beijing look to Tehran with tariffs set to upend global LPG flows
China could turn to Iran to cover the loss of LPG shipments from the US, after sky-high tariffs imposed by Beijing on all American goods last week effectively closed the burgeoning LPG trade route between the US Gulf Coast and China for the second time in less than seven years. LPG, a hydrocarbon that is mainly a mix of propane and butane, is widely used in China as a key feedstock in the petrochemical industry and as a clean fuel source for cooking in the residential sector. Chinese imports of US LPG had weakened even before Beijing expanded its retaliatory tariffs last week to cover all US goods—including the fuel—and hiked them from 84% to a trade-collapsing 125%. Chinese LPG buyers hav
Also in this section
9 January 2026
The Latin American producer’s crude prospects rely on a multi-pronged approach where even the relatively easy wins will take considerable time, effort and cost
9 January 2026
While many forecasters are reasserting the importance of oil and gas, petrostates should be under no illusion things are changing, and faster than they might think
8 January 2026
Indonesia and Malaysia are at the dawn of breathtaking digital capabilities. Their energy infrastructure must keep up with their ambitions
8 January 2026
The next five years will be critical for the North Sea, and it will be policy not geology that will decide the basin’s future
