At the recent Metallurgical Mineral Conference, the vice president of China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) Luo Bingsheng has presented the import and export figures of Chinese steel products in the first two months of 2011 based on the customs data.
In January, China imported 1.63 million mt of finished steel products and 77,200 mt of semi-finished products, equivalent to 1.81 million mt of crude steel, rising by 26.42 percent or 348,500 mt as compared to January 2010. At the same time, the export volumes of finished steel products and semi-finished products are respectively 3.1 million mt and 6,400 mt, equivalent to 3.31 million mt of crude steel, rising by 8.72 percent or 265,000 mt as compared to January 2010. On the whole, most market analysts predict that the total steel export in 2011 is likely to decline.
On the other hand, during the first two months of this year, the import figures of finished steel products and semi-finished products respectively reached 2.66 million mt and 120,000 mt, equivalent to 2.95 million mt of crude steel, up 8.09 percent or 220,900 mt year on year.
Meanwhile, in the Jan-Feb period, the country exported 5.6 million mt finished steel products equivalent to 5.96 million mt of crude steel, up 4.1 percent or 234,600 mt year on year.