Huatai Securities: Structural Differentiation of Natural Gas Demand in Manufacturing Industry, Transformation Opportunities for City Gas Companies Highlighted

Huatai Securities research report states that there is a structural differentiation in the demand for natural gas in the manufacturing industry, and the opportunities for urban gas companies to transform and break through are becoming more prominent. Huatai Securities predicts that the demand for natural gas in the Chinese manufacturing industry will maintain moderate growth from 2026 to 2028, but with significant structural differentiation: emerging manufacturing industries such as automotive manufacturing will continue to expand their demand, while traditional energy-intensive industries will gradually reduce their demand. This shift is driving the urban gas industry towards a transformation from "resource distribution" to "comprehensive energy services". Opportunities lie in optimizing customer structures, expanding value-added services, and improving cost efficiency. Additionally, competition from alternative energy sources and regional competition will further differentiate the industry. Enterprises with transformation capabilities will fully benefit from structural dividends. The investment focus is on transformation capabilities and structural dividends: national urban gas industry leaders will capture emerging demand by leveraging cross-regional resources and pipeline network advantages. Regional industry leaders will focus on local emerging industry clusters and tie them to zero-carbon industrial parks. Energy service platform-type enterprises will connect with large-scale emerging manufacturing projects thanks to their LNG resource advantages.