In 2019, China’s exports of steel bars totaled 9.59 million mt, down 24.8 percent, year on year, while wire rod export shipments were relatively stable at 2.06 million mt, down just 0.4 percent year on year. At the same time, China’s export volumes of angles/channels came to 3.25 million mt in 2019, down 7.5 percent compared to 2018. Construction steel demand in China improved owing to higher government spending, which led to lower exports of bars and angles/channels.
In December alone, China’s export volumes of steel bars dropped by 21 percent year on year to 550,000 mt, according to the Chinese customs authorities. The pace of decline was down 0.6 percentage points from November. In December, China’s exports of angles/channels totaled 260,000 mt, down 11.8 percent year on year. However, China’s exports of wire rod totaled 190,000 mt in December, up 4.9 percent year on year.