South Korea’s business association requested Australia to reconsider its plan of restricting liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to avoid a domestic shortfall of the natural fuel.

Korea is the world’s second-largest LNG consumer, and Australia the world’s second-largest supplier.

The Federation of Korean Industries, a lobby group for the country’s largest companies, said that it made a request to Australia to reconsider imposing export control on LNG exports at the 38th Korea-Australia Business Council held in Brisbane, Australia on Tuesday (local time). The Korea-Australia Business Council, which was launched in 1979, has since served as a private economic cooperation platform between the two countries.

On July 1, the Australian government introduced Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism to enable cut in LNG shipments when there is a domestic shortage. Korea’s LNG demand is expected to grow faster under the new government policy to wean away from nuclear and fossil-fueled power.

Australia’s plan to regulate LNG shipments poses a huge concern for Korea as it is the country’s third largest buyer of natural gas, said Kwon Oh-joon, chairman of Korea’s largest steelmaker Posco and the Korean head of the Korea-Australia Business Council.

In July, the presidents of Korea and Australia discussed measures on strengthening their cooperation in LNG sector during the G20 summit held in Germany.

Separately in the Korea-Australia Business Council meeting, Australia-based global investment bank Macquarie Group introduced energy waste management as a promising business field amid increasing global demand for clean energy. Samyang, Korea’s mid-sized food conglomerate, shared findings from its joint health food research and development project with Australia’s University of Queensland.

By Kang Doo-soon and Cho Jeehyun

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