Export of Chinese steel in the first half of the year exceeded 50 million tons

According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China, the country exported 8.89 million tons of steel in June 2015, an increase of 1.82 million tons, or 25.7 percent year on year, and a decrease of 0.31 million. .tonnes compared to exports in May. In the first half of 2015, China exported about 52.4 million tons of steel products, increasing exports by 27.8 percent year on year.

For the world's metallurgical sector, the first half of 2015 shows that those who believe that China's steel production has already peaked have benefitted compared to those who believe that the peak will come in a few more years. This particularly affected iron ore miners, many of whom became clear that in the second half of 2015, an increase in iron ore supplies to China can only be achieved through a further reduction in the country's domestic mines, which means that prices will have to remain quite low. so that mines inside China can be forced to close.

Iron ore imports to China declined in the first half of the year, indicating that the country's steel consumption apparently already peaked last year. Iron ore imports totaled 74.96 million tons in June, up from 70.87 million tons in May, according to data released by the Customs Agency. In the period from January to June, imports of iron ore amounted to 452.9 million tons, which is 0.9 percent lower than in the same period last year.

The decline in the supply of iron ore and the simultaneous jump in steel exports in the first half of 2015 shows the extent of the slowdown in China's steel industry, which is being tackled by the slowdown in its economic growth. Iron ore prices fell to their lowest level since at least 2009 last week. At the same time, one of the largest iron ore miners, the Rio Tinto Group, said the price of iron ore had dropped to a so-called new normal level, which could persist through 2020.