China increased exports of semi-finished products by 47.8% y/y in January–April

In January–April, China increased its exports of semi-finished steel products by 47.77% year-on-year, reaching 4.94 million tons. This is according to data from the country’s customs authorities, as reported by SteelOrbis.

In April alone, the figure stood at 1.64 million tons, which is 7.3% more than in March and 109.03% more than in April 2025, indicating high demand for these products on the international market. At the same time, low demand for rolled steel on the country’s domestic market contributed to strong export growth for metallurgical companies.

As noted by Bloomberg, Chinese exports of semi-finished products filled the gap created by the drop in supplies from Iran. The two main destinations for shipments in April were Indonesia and Thailand, which have mills that import steel slabs.

The growth in semi-finished product volumes, the agency notes, has been a key feature of steel exports from China over the past two years. Local mills are facing both a downturn in the domestic economy and a wave of trade measures worldwide, which largely affect finished products.

It should be recalled that China reduced its rolled steel exports by 9.7% year-on-year – to 34.2 million tons during January–April 2026. In April alone, the figure fell by 9.2% year-on-year to 9.5 million tons. Despite a slight increase compared to March, the overall trend remains negative due to weak global demand.