Posted on 11 Dec 2024
China's steel exports jumped by 22.6% on year to reach 101.15 million tonnes over January-November, the second highest level after 2015, according to the latest data released by China's General Administration of Customs (GACC) on December 10.
For November alone, the country's steel exports also climbed by 15.9% on year to 9.28 million tonnes, despite a 17% on-month decrease, Mysteel Global calculated based on the Customs data.
China's steel shipments abroad in November were mainly fulfilling orders booked about two months earlier in September, Mysteel Global notes.
September is usually regarded by steelmakers as a "golden month" for steel consumption in China but this year, it failed to meet market expectations. Instead, the domestic steel market did not show any signs of recovery until the final week of September when the government introduced a series of economic stimulus measures, as reported.
During the first three weeks of September, 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 just 116,219 tonnes/day, far below the threshold of 200,000 t/d usual for a peak consumption season.
Indeed, the rebound in steel prices and steelmakers' profitability witnessed in late September prompted some mills to ramp up production, which led end-users to slow their purchasing in hopes that prices would soften.
At the same time, Chinese steel products still enjoyed price advantages in international markets which encouraged mills and traders to seize the opportunity and chase business overseas.
By September 30, China's export price of SS400 3.00mm hot-rolled coil (HRC) had recovered by $50/tonne from September 2 to reach $522/t FOB, yet it was still lower by $13/t from Japan-origin offers posted the same day, Mysteel's survey found.
Meanwhile, the GACC data also showed that during the January-November period, China imported 6.19 million tonnes of steel products, down by 11.3% from the same period last year.
Source:Mysteel Global
