The details of China's semi-finished steel export data for August show that Chinese billet exports to all countries in Southeast Asia except Malaysia decreased in the month in question due to strong domestic demand and high prices.
Compared to July, China's billet and slab exports decreased from 175,070 mt to 104,400 mt for South Korea; from 97,954 mt to 27,677 mt for Vietnam; from 186,940 mt to 36,544 mt for Taiwan; from 177,177 mt to 23,306 mt for Thailand, from 76,752 mt to 2,875 mt for the Philippines. In addition, China's billet and slab exports to Iran decreased from 62,253 mt to 9,993 mt; and to Kuwait from 43,836 mt to null.
Semis exports to Malaysia increased from zero in July to 63,876 mt in August; meanwhile, exports to Saudi Arabia increased from 9,504 mt to 25,216 mt.