In 2015, China’s apparent steel consumption declined by 5.4 percent to 70 million mt year on year, according to the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers' Association (TCUD), based on the China report from World Steel Association (worldsteel). In 2015, long steel products accounted for 44 percent of China’s total finished steel output, while flat steel products accounted for 36.6 percent and tubular products accounted for 8.8 percent.
In 2015, China’s semi finished and finished steel product imports decreased by 11.4 percent year on year to 12.78 million mt, and its semi finished and finished steel exports showed an increase of 19.9 percent and amounted to 112.4 million mt, while its net steel exports totaled 100 million mt, all compared to the previous year, including 44 percent of long products and 43 percent of flat products. In the given year, China’s main steel export destinations were South Korea, Vietnam, EU-28, Philippines and Indonesia.
Meanwhile, in 2015, China’s iron ore imports increased by 2.2 percent to 953 million mt compared to 2014, and 91 percent of these imports were from Australia, Brazil, South Africa and Ukraine. In the same year, the country’s iron ore output amounted to 1.38 billion mt, down 7.7 percent year on year.