In the first quarter this year, China exported 14.43 million mt of finished steel, up 18.8 percent year on year, while its finished steel imports totaled 3.23 million mt, down 5.3 percent on year-on-year basis, as announced by the Chinese customs authorities on April 10.
In March alone, China’s finished steel export and import volumes amounted to 5.28 million mt and 1.23 million mt respectively, up 4.97 percent and down 3.15 percent year on year.
Furthermore, in March China imported 64.55 million mt of iron ore, up 2.67 percent year on year, while in the January-March period the iron ore import volume amounted to 186.48 million mt, more or less stable compared to the corresponding period of 2012. The average import price of iron ore in March was $139.3/mt, up 16.2 percent compared to the price recorded in January this year.
In addition, in the first quarter of the current year China’s overall external trade amounted to a value of RMB 6.12 trillion ($974.67 billion), up 13.4 percent, while the value of the country’s import trade in this period was RMB 2.9 trillion ($465.8 billion), increasing by 8.4 percent, both year on year.