India’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports shifted towards West Asia in September as supplies from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) surged and shipments from the United States declined, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler.

The UAE became India’s largest LPG supplier, accounting for 39 per cent of total imports, compared with 13 per cent in August. It supplied 547,000 tonnes, marking a 182 per cent increase from 193,000 tonnes in the previous month. The UAE overtook the US, which had led India’s LPG supply basket for six consecutive months.

The US ranked second, with shipments falling 58 per cent to 323,000 tonnes from August. Its share of India’s LPG imports dropped to 23 per cent in September from 53 per cent a month earlier.

The US emerged as India’s largest LPG supplier after the US-Iran war disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz in late February, severely affecting supplies from Gulf countries. However, shipments from the region have now begun to recover.

“The physical market has demonstrated greater resilience than assumed. Combined crude volumes exiting the Gulf (excluding Iran) plus volumes from West Coast Saudi and East Coast UAE are around pre-conflict levels of 18.5 million barrels per day, but when you include diverted volume shipped from the Saudi West coast and UAE East coast it's now around 100 per cent,” Kpler said.

India imports 60 per cent of its LPG requirements, with Gulf countries previously accounting for 90 per cent of these imports through the Strait of Hormuz.

Supplies from Kuwait and Qatar also increased in September. Kuwait ranked third, supplying 132,544 tonnes, up 15.6 per cent from August. Qatar followed with 115,340 tonnes, marking a 76 per cent increase. India did not import any LPG from Saudi Arabia during the month.

India’s total LPG imports fell 4 per cent to 1.39 million tonnes in September. Other suppliers included Iran at 89,000 tonnes, Algeria at 24,000 tonnes, Oman and the Republic of the Congo at 23,000 tonnes each, and Brunei at 4,000 tonnes.

Analysts expect India to continue diversifying its LPG sources even after the West Asia conflict, while maintaining its dependence on the region for crude oil and LPG.

“While Middle East crude flows have recovered materially, the continued threat to vessels transiting Hormuz is keeping freight costs elevated. The market is, therefore, demonstrating that a diplomatic solution is not necessary to restore physical supply, but operating without one comes at a cost,” Matt Wright, lead and principal freight analyst at Kpler, said.