China's finished steel exports amounted to 50.892 million mt in the January-July period this year, increasing by 27.9 percent year on year, according to the latest data released by China's General Administration of Customs (GACC) on August 8. The increase rate is slower than the 31.3 percent recorded in January-June and the 40.9 percent in January-May.
Some reduction in steel production in July and relatively good prices in the local steel market have resulted in a gradual decline in exports in July as compared to June. This tendency is going to continue in the next few months as steel mills have been called on by the authorities to limit production to levels not higher than last year’s levels, while some domestic demand improvement is expected in the September-October period.
In July alone, China’s finished steel exports amounted to 7.308 million mt, down 2.7 percent month on month, but still up 9.6 percent year on year.
In the January-July period, China imported 4.419 million mt of finished steel, down 32.6 percent year on year. The imports totaled 678,000 mt in July, up 10.8 percent month on month, while down 14.1 percent year on year.