SteelOrbis Shanghai
According to Chinese customs data, in October China exported 4.24 million mt of finished steel products, registering a drop of 10,000 mt or 0.2 percent year on year. This decrease constitutes the first year-on-year drop in growth in monthly export figures since China's finished steel imports and exports reached a situation of balance in 2005. Besides, finished exports in October also registered a decline of 190,000 mt or 4.3 percent compared with September. Meanwhile, China imported 1.21 million mt of finished steel products in October, down 180,000 mt or 12.9 percent year on year, and down 220,000 mt or 15.4 percent month on month.
On the other hand, semi-finished steel exports in the same month amounted to 180,000 mt, dramatically down 750,000 mt or 80.6 percent year on year and down 17,000 mt or 48.6 percent month on month. Meanwhile, imports of semi-finished steel in October totaled 10,000 mt, down 8,000 mt year on year and 10,000 mt month on month.
From January to October, China's total exports of finished steel reached 53.76 million mt, up 20.92 million mt or 63.7 percent year on year. Meanwhile, imports of finished steel totaled 14.19 million mt for this period, down 1.34 million mt or 8.6 percent year on year.
On the other hand, exports of semi-finished steel in the January-October period totaled 6.13 million mt, down 930,000 mt or 13.2 percent. Meanwhile, imports of semi-finished steel for the period in question totaled 200,000 mt, down 130,000 mt or 39.4 percent.
As a result, China's net exports of finished steel and semi-finished steel stood at 3.03 million mt and 170,000 mt respectively in October, equaling 3.36 million mt of net crude steel exports, down 140,000 mt or four percent compared with September. In the January-October period, China's net exports totaled 39.57 million mt of finished steel and 5.93 million mt of semi-finished steel, equaling 47.58 million mt of net crude steel exports.
China's iron ore imports in October totaled 29.77 million mt, strongly up 7.8 million mt or 35.5 percent year on year, but down 3.47 million mt or 10.4 percent month on month. From January to October, iron ore imports totaled 313.75 million mt, up 44.63 million mt or 16.6 percent compared with the same period last year.
China's coke exports in October totaled 1.42 million mt, up 100,000 mt or 7.6 percent year on year, but down 50,000 mt or 3.4 percent month on month. From January to October, coke exports totaled 13.15 million mt, up 1.13 million mt or 9.4 percent compared with the same period last year.
China's steel imports and exports have been decreasing month on month since July. However, October indicates the threshold of a new period with the first year on year decrease in the monthly export figure. According to the information SteelOrbis has obtained, China's finished steel exports will continue to decline also in November. In addition to the sharp decrease in the country's exports to the US, its exports to the EU are also expected to show a sharp decline in the near future, as a precaution against the petition filed by Eurofer.