In July this year, China imported 1.049 million mt of finished steel, down 51.4 percent year on year, while down 16.2 percent month on month, as announced by the Chinese customs authorities on August 9.
This was connected with overall demand slowdown, though the declining trend was seen only in the finished steel segment, while semis imports were still healthy. A possible decline in domestic crude steel production could support China’s semi-finished imports in the second half of the year.
In the January-July period this year, China imported 8.397 million mt of finished steel, down 15.6 percent year on year, shifting from a year-on-year growth of 0.1 percent recorded in the first six months of the current year.
