China increased steel exports by 1.6% m/m in July

China increased steel exports by 1.6% in July 2025 compared to the previous month to 9.836 million tons. This is reported by SMM with reference to customs data.

In January-July, total exports of steel products amounted to 67.983 million tons (+11.4% y/y).

In particular, according to SMM, in July, the planned exports of hot rolled steel (HRC) from Chinese steel mills amounted to 1.21 million tons, which is 10.2% more than the actual exports of these products in June.

In July, the country reduced steel imports by 3.8% compared to June, to 452 thousand tons. For 7 months of this year, this figure amounted to 3.476 million tons, down 15.7% year-on-year.

Last month, imports of iron ore and concentrates totaled 104.62 million tons (-1.3% m/m). In January-July, it amounted to 696.57 million tons, which is 2.3% less than in the same period last year.

In January-June 2025, Chinese steelmakers increased steel exports by 9.2% compared to the same period in 2024, to 58.15 million tons. Steel imports to the Chinese market in the first half of the year decreased by 16.4% y/y – to 3.023 million tons.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2024, China reduced steel production by 1.7% compared to 2023, to 1.005 billion tons. At the same time, exports reached a record high of 110.72 million tons, up 22.7% compared to 2023. The figure continues to grow amid weak domestic consumption. Imports totaled 6.8 million tons, down 10.5% y/y.