China’s steel sheet/plate exports totaled 20.06 million mt in the January-April period this year, down 16.6 percent year on year, 0.3 percentage points faster than the declining pace recorded in the first three months this year, according to the Chinese customs authorities. This indicates still decent negative trend compared to last year with lower sales to regional markets like Vietnam and South Korea after antidumping duties introduced.
In April alone, China’s steel sheet/plate exports amounted to 5.46 million mt, down 17.5 percent year on year, while up 3.4 percent month on month.
Steel plates/sheets are the primary target of anti-dumping investigations against Chinese steel products overseas. Meanwhile, demand in developed countries remained sluggish. Emerging markets such as India, ASEAN, and the Middle East have indicated healthy growth in terms of demand in generally, but sales from China were reduced. However, the incremental demand in these emerging markets has been concentrated primarily in long products.
