According to the statistics issued by China’s Customs, China imported 15.781 million mt of semi-finished products in the January-October period of the current year, up 919.84 percent year on year.
In 2017, 2018 and 2019, China imported 490,000 mt, 1.05 million mt and 3.0561 million mt of semis, respectively.
The import volumes of semis followed a declining trend in October and November after the record highs in the previous two months. In the December-January period, the import quantities are also expected to be reduced.
In 2020, the total import semi-finished and finished steel volume is expected to exceed all expectations made earlier this year. China imported 18.559 million mt of finished steel during the January-November period. Accordingly, total imports will exceed 35 million mt by the end of the year. In 2019, China's steel imports decreased by 6.5 percent year on year to 12.304 million mt, as SteelOrbis reported previously based on CISA data.
Meanwhile, China’s National Bureau of Statistics has forecast that China’s finished steel exports will likely increase further in December, while the overall export volume in 2020 will be far less than that in 2019.
