In January-October, Uzbekistan imported gas at a record worth of 1.36 billion US dollars, the Statistics Agency said in an International trade report.

Uzbekistan has exports obligations to China as per the gas sales contracts dating back early 2010s.

This is 2.4 times more (in monetary terms) than for 10 months of 2023, when the volume of exports valued at $561.7 million. This is also almost 2 times more than the total volume of gas imports for the entire last year ($694.9 million).

In January, gas imports valued at $35.6 million, in February — 3.7 times more, or $131.1 million, in March — $193.5 million, in April — $102.6 million, in May — $180.4 million, in June — $166.3 million, in July — $174.2 million, in August — $168.3 million, in September — $126.3 million. The Statistics Agency does not disclose the physical volumes of exports.

In October, gas was supplied worth of $86.7 million, which is 17.4% more than in October 2023 ($73.8 million).

Uzbekistan also began to export more gas than last year. Exports reached $540.4 million, which is 17.9% more than in the same period last year ($458.2 million). In January, this figure was $21 million, in February — $5.7 million, in March — $18.7 million, in April — $6.9 million, in May — $7.6 million, in June — $181.5 million, in July — $81.7 million, in August — $81.7 million, in September — $74.7 million.

In October, the volume of exports was at $60.9 million, which is 1.3 times more than the figure for October last year ($46.5 million). Uzbekistan exports gas mainly to China, as well as to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

According to China’s General Administration of Customs, China's import of Uzbek gas since the beginning of the year valued at $587.9 million, which is 25% more than the ten-month figure for 2023 ($470.3 million). In January, China imported gas from Uzbekistan worth of $38.8 million, in February — worth of $18.6 million, in April — worth of $11.4 million, in May — worth of $85 million, in June — worth of $81.1 million, in July worth of $69.2 million, in August worth of $97.37 million, and in September worth of $97.4 million. Physical volumes are also not disclosed.

In October, imports of Uzbek gas reached $88.9 million, which is almost 2.1 times more than in September 2023 ($42.38 million). 

Uzbekistan has exports obligations to China as per the gas sales contracts dating back early 2010s. Uzbekistan made several attempts to terminate the deals unilaterallym but was unable to do so, as there was no relevant provision in the contracts.