In June this year, China exported 2.2 million mt of steel sheet/plate, down 31.1 percent year on year.
The relatively high export offer prices of steel sheet/plate amid increasing iron ore prices, firm domestic demand, the high price trend in the local market, and tough competition in the international market made it hard to export in June. The decline in steel sheet/plate exports in June this year was 3.6 percentage points higher than the decrease recorded in May.
China’s steel sheet/plate exports totaled 17.57 million mt in the January-June period of the current year, down 14.9 percent year on year, according to the Chinese customs authorities, This decline was 2.9 percentage points higher compared to the year-on-year decline of 12.0 percent recorded in the first five months of the year.
Together with the falling export volumes of sheets and plates, imports of these products were on the rise, owing to still low demand in such countries as India, S. Korea and Japan. Suppliers from these countries were offering at relatively low prices to China and were successful in attracting buyers.