Baosteel plans to export 10 million tons of steel per year by 2028

China’s Baosteel (Baoshan Iron & Steel), a unit of China Baowu Steel Group, intends to increase steel exports to 10 million tons per year by 2028. The company announced this at the presentation of its interim results, Mysteel Global reports.

In the first half of 2024, Baosteel’s exports reached a record high of 3.04 million tons of steel. By the end of 2023, this figure increased by 46.6% year-on-year – to a record high of about 5.84 million tons.

The company considers its advantages in the global market to be a wide range of products and a well-established international marketing network. The steel giant plans to expand its exports by deepening its presence in South and Southeast Asia and exploring new opportunities in the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. In addition, Baosteel continues to maintain its positions in Europe, North and South America.

The company plans to sell 52.2 million tons of steel this year, SteelOrbis reports. In January-June, sales reached 25.51 million tons (-0.19% y/y). In the second quarter of 2024, sales amounted to 12.99 million tons, down 3.41% year-on-year.

Baosteel predicts that demand for hot-rolled steel in China may remain low in the third quarter amid continued poor performance in the real estate sector and weak sales in the passenger car and commercial truck sectors, as well as some softening in the shipbuilding industry. However, it may show a trend towards a moderate recovery in the fourth quarter amid a likely improvement in the construction environment.

As GMK Center reported, in July Baosteel announced that it would more than double its investment in a joint venture to produce flat products in Saudi Arabia to $1 billion from about $437.5 million previously.