In the January-February period this year, China’s exports of steel bars totaled 2.32 million mt, down 5.9 percent year on year, while wire rod exports amounted to 380,000 mt, down 2.5 percent year on year, according to the General Administration of Customs of China (GAAC). At the same time, China’s export volumes of angles/channels came to 1.22 million mt in the given period, increasing by 21.5 percent year on year.
China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) and GACC had jointly announced the new regulations for the implementation of the export quota on 300 steel product items, effective as of January 1 2026, exerting a negative impact on China’s steel exports in the given period.
Meanwhile, the EU’s CBAM formally took effect at the start of 2026, while several countries’ antidumping measures against China’s steel products also negatively affected Chinese steel exports in the first two months of 2026.