China's steel imports see slow decline in February

SteelOrbis Shanghai The latest figures released by the Chinese customs authorities indicate that Chinese finished steel imports in February totaled 1.22 million mt, down 30,000 mt or 2.4 percent year on year and down 260,000 mt month on month. Meanwhile, semi finished steel imports remained at the January level of 30,000 mt. Chinese exports of finished steel and semi finished steel continued at a high level in February. Finished steel exports totaled 4.38 million mt, up 2.53 million mt or 136.8 percent year on year and neutral month on month. Semi finished steel exports, on the other hand, reached 540,000 mt, up 240,000 mt or 80 percent year on year and down 30,000 mt month on month. Thus, China's net exports of finished steel and semi finished steel in February amounted to 3.16 million mt and 510,000 mt respectively, equivalent to net crude steel exports of 3.84 million mt. January-February imports of finished steel decreased 130,000 mt or 4.6 percent to 2.7 million mt compared with the same period last year. The decrease range is 14.9 percentage points lower compared to the range of decrease last year. Meanwhile, imports of semi finished steel for the first two months of the year remained at 50,000 mt, equal to the level of the previous year. January-February exports of finished steel totaled 8.75 million mt, up 5.09 million mt or 139.3 percent year on year. Meanwhile, exports of semi finished steel reached 1.12 million mt, up 530,000 mt or 87.9 percent. Thus in the Jan-Feb period, China's net exports of finished steel and semi finished steel stood at 6.05 million mt and 1.06 million mt respectively, equivalent to 7.43 million mt in crude steel.