In the January-September period of the current year, China’s import volumes of steel bars and steel sheet/plate amounted to 740,000 mt and 7.42 million mt, down 10.5 percent and 11.7 percent year on year, 1.4 percentage points and 0.7 percentage points slower than the decline rates recorded for the January-August period this year, according to the monthly import and export data issued by the Chinese customs authorities. Chinese auto production increased by 11 percent month on month in September, contributing to the slower declining pace of steel sheet imports in the first nine months of the year.
China’s import volumes of angles/channels and steel pipes/hollow profiles in the January-September period amounted to 220,000 mt and 240,000 mt, down 18.8 percent and 23.5 percent, showing an increase in the decrease rates of 1.7 percentage points and 2.2 percentage points, respectively, compared to those recorded for the January-August period.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, in the January-September period this year China imported 8.751 million mt of finished steel, decreasing by 12.2 percent year on year, 0.6 percentage points slower than the decrease rate recorded in the first eight months of the year.