Posted on 08 Nov 2024
China's steel exports reached 91.89 million tonnes during this year's January-October period, up by 23.3% from the same period last year, according to the latest data released by China's General Administration of Customs (GACC) on November 7.
During October alone, the country's steel exports jumped by 40.9% on year to 11.18 million tonnes, Mysteel Global calculated based on the Customs data.
China's steel shipments abroad during October were mainly fulfilling orders signed about two months earlier, Mysteel Global notes.
During August, many Chinese steelmakers were suffering from poor profitability due to softer domestic steel prices and subdued steel demand. The high summer temperatures and frequent heavy rains across most regions of the country had impacted consumption, especially of construction steel, as reported.
Mysteel's data shows that during August, China's daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 traders under Mysteel's regular survey had averaged 110,898 tonnes/day, falling by 23.4% from the same month last year.
On the other hand, Chinese steel producers were able to boost their export business at that time due to the price advantages they enjoyed in international markets.
As of August 30, China's export price of SS400 3.00mm hot-rolled coil (HRC) was assessed by Mysteel at $472/t FOB, lower by $63/t from Japan-origin offers posted the same day, according to Mysteel's tracking. Japan Iron & Steel Federation data show that the volume of China-origin HRC cleared by Japan Customs in September surged by 68% from September last year to 20,991 tonnes.
Chinese steel exports are now facing increasingly strong headwinds of trade friction worldwide, including cases from major import consumers Vietnam and South Korea, Mysteel Global observed.
Over January-August, a total of 23 trade investigations were launched against China-origin steel products, far exceeding the total of 15 cases filed during the three years from 2021-2023, according to China Iron and Steel Association.
Meanwhile, in the January-October period, China also imported 5.72 million tonnes of steel products, down by 10.1% on year, the GACC data showed.
Source:Mysteel Global
