China increased steel exports by 21.8% y/y in January-July

In January-July 2024, China’s steel companies increased steel exports by 21.8% compared to the same period in 2023 – up to 61.23 million tons. This was reported by the China Steel Manufacturers Association (CISA).

The import of steel products for 7 months decreased by 6.7% compared to January-July 2023 – to 4.12 million tons. The import of iron ore reached 713.77 million tons, which is 6.7% more y/y.

In July, Chinese steelmakers exported 7.83 million tons of steel, which is 10.5% less compared to the previous month. The average export price was at the level of $790.1/t (+2.3% m/m). Steel imports fell by 12.2% m/m in July – to 505 thousand tons. The average import price was $1.76 thousand (+9.6% m/m)

Imports of iron ore by China last month reached 102.81 million tons, which is 5.3% more than in June. The average import price was $105.7/t (-1.5% m/m).

According to BigMint, China’s indirect steel exports are expected to grow by 9% compared to 2023 to 127 million tons in 2024, up from 116 million tons in 2023 (+3% y/y). Among the supporting factors: high export of cars, growth of shipbuilding, energy transition, demand for equipment from the Russian Federation.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, China increased the export of steel products by 36.2% compared to 2022 – up to 90.3 million tons. Steel imports to China amounted to 7.64 million tons, which is 27.6% less y/y. The import of ore for the year increased by 6.6% compared to 2022 – up to 1.179 billion tons.

In 2023, China produced 1.019 billion tons of steel, up 0.6% from 2022. The downward trend in the country’s steel industry has stopped after two consecutive years of production decline.