According to the latest Chinese customs data, in October this year China's import and export volumes of finished steel products recorded slight declines on month-on-month basis.
In October, China exported 2.86 million mt of finished steel, down 150,000 mt from September but up 5.54 percent compared with the same month of last year. In the first ten months of the current year, China's finished steel exports rose by 99.8 percent year on year to 36.8 million mt.
In October, China's finished steel imports amounted to 1.14 million mt, 180,000 mt less than in September and down 22.97 percent from the corresponding month of 2009. During the January-October period, China's imports of finished steel came to 13.63 million mt, decreasing by 8.2 percent year on year.
In the 10th month of 2010, 45.72 million mt of iron ore was shipped from overseas to the Chinese market, down 6.88 million mt month on month but registering a year-on-year increase of 0.55 percent. In the January-October period, China's iron ore imports came to 503.3 million mt, down 2.2 percent as compared to the first ten months of 2009.