China foreign cold rolled trade slows in July

China foreign cold rolled trade slows in July

China's cold rolled steel production increased but exports and imports declined in July, indicating a decrease in demand. China produced 659'800 tons of cold rolled sheet in July 2005, up 18% year on year. Production for the first seven months reached 4.44 million tons, up nearly 20 percent year on year. Meanwhile, CR thin and wide strip output reached 596'100 tons in July, up 28.5 percent year on year. Production for the first seven months amounted to 4.19 million tons, up 39.5 percent year on year. Net imports of cold rolled sheet decreased 5.5%, or 36'000 tons, month on month in July 2005 to 607'900 tons. Meanwhile, common cold rolled coil fell 8.5 percent month on month but increased nearly 38 percent year on year to 642'000 tons. The export of common CR sheet/coil reached 34'100 tons, down 38 percent year on year and 41 percent month on month. Japan, Taiwan, Russia and South Korea account for 64.5 percent of China's total imports. Moreover, 23 percent (149'000 tons) of China's total cold rolled steel exports ended up in Russia.