The Chinese customs authorities have indicated that in November this year China's finished steel exports indicated a slight recovery. Meanwhile, the country's imports of iron ore registered a strong increase in November.
During the month in question, Chinese finished steel exports reached 2.91 million mt, increasing by 50,000 mt compared to October and rising by 2.11 percent year on year. Meanwhile, the country imported 1.38 million mt of finished steel products in November, up 240,000 mt month on month and up 6.98 percent as compared with the same month last year.
In the first 11 months of 2010, China exported a total of 39.7 million mt of finished steel products, climbing up by 86.7 percent from the same period of last year. At the same time, the country's finished steel import volume was 17.48 million mt in the January-November period, down seven percent year on year. During the period in question, China exported 140,000 mt of semi-finished steel products, rising by 320.7 percent year on year. On the other hand, the aggregate import volume of semi-finished products in the first 11 months was 570,000 mt, declining by 87.4 percent compared with the same period of 2009.
In addition, China's iron ore imports reached 57.38 million mt in November, 11.66 million mt more than in the previous month and up 12.36 percent year on year. During the first 11 months of the current year China imported 561 million mt of iron ore, down 0.9 percent in comparison with the corresponding period of 2009.