In July, China’s import volumes of semi-finished steel amounted to 230,000 mt, up 10.3 percent year on year, 3.6 percentage points higher than that recorded in June. Traders in the market mentioned that the lower prices in other markets and high iron ore tags stimulated Chinese buyers to seek for purchases of billets in May-June. Nevertheless, demand for imported billet has faded as iron ore has come down closer to $80/mt CFR and it is unlikely to rebound much until the end of the year.
In the January-July period of the current year, China’s import volumes of semi-finished steel amounted to 740,000 mt, down 42.8 percent year on year, 17.7 percentage points faster than the decline pace recorded for January-June, according to the monthly import and export data issued by the Chinese customs authorities.