In August, China exported 5.006 million mt of finished steel, down 14.8 percent year on year, while down by 10.1 percent compared to the previous month, as announced by the Chinese customs authorities on September 8. The slack demand for Chinese products due to high competition with Indian producers in the international market and more or less stable local demand in China in June-July, when most of August shipment bookings have been made, led to such a decline in export volumes.
In the January-August, China exported 44.974 million mt of finished steel, down 4.4 percent year on year.
It is expected that export shipments in September will slightly rebound, taking into account that domestic sales were sluggish in August and mills were more interested in selling abroad.
China imported 7.638 million mt of finished steel during first eight months, decreasing by 12.8 percent year on year.