China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) is expected to conduct trial runs at its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Ningbo in Zhejiang province in late August when the first cargo arrives, a south China-based importer said on Monday.

CNOOC delayed the arrival if the cargo from June in view of weak downstream demand in China, the source said.

This is the first time in China when a terminal operation schedule was delayed as a result of lacklustre market, the source added.

China's consumption of imported LNG has been low since the beginning of 2012 because of weak demand from industrial users and ample domestic supply, market sources said.

CNOOC's east China trading branch will carry out LNG sales by trucks from the terminal, while the rest will be re-gasified and piped to the consumers, they said.

As the largest LNG importer in China, CNOOC already operates three other LNG terminals, based in Shanghai, Fujian and Guangdong respectively.