Chinese crude steel exports accounted for 7.8 percent of the country's total finished steel production in October - i.e. 2.2 percentage points lower than the China Iron and Steel Association's (CISA) critical threshold of 10 percent.
In October, China produced 42.92 million mt of crude steel and exported 3.36 million mt of this figure. Meanwhile, on a finished steel basis, Chinese exports in the same month amounted to 4.24 million mt, accounting for 8.6 percent of the country's finished steel production of 49.07 million mt in October.
This is the first time this year that Chinese steel exports have fallen below 10 percent of total production. The decline indicates that the government measures to restrict exports have started to show their impact.