China imported 20.233 million mt of finished steel in 2020, increasing by 64.4 percent year on year, according to China’s customs statistics. The figure excludes semi-finished products imports, which reached 15.8 million mt in the January-October period of the year. As a result, total imports of steel products are expected to be definitely above 35 million mt for the whole of 2020, boosted by strong local consumption and the visible difference between local and international prices especially in the middle of the year.
The pace of growth of finished steel imports in the whole of 2020 was 9.9 percentage points lower compared to the increase recorded in the first 11 months. In December last year, China imported 1.375 million mt of finished steel, down 7.1 percent year on year, while down 25.8 percent month on month.