In the January-July period this year, China’s exports of steel bars totaled 7.01 million mt, up 10.3 percent year on year, while wire rod exports amounted to 1.53 million mt, up 9.2 percent year on year, according to the Chinese customs authorities. At the same time, China’s export volumes of angles/channels came to 3.16 million mt in the given period, up 11.6 percent year on year.
In July alone, China’s exports of steel bars amounted to 0.9 million mt, up 3.0 percent year on year, down 13.5 percent month on month, while exports of wire rod and angles/channels amounted to 210,000 mt and 440,000 mt, down 7.1 percent and up 2.4 percent year on year, and down 8.7 percent and up 2.3 percent month on month, respectively.
China’s steel exports will likely decrease in the second half of the current year considering that price differences are anticipated to narrow gradually, while trade protection measures will be more frequent in the global market, and also given that the overseas economic recovery will be slower than expected.