Steel exports from China rose again in October, imports fell

In October, China shipped 4.04 million tonnes of finished steel products overseas, up 5.5% from the second month, mainly to fulfill orders signed in August, while steel imports fell 33.2% in compared with the previous month to 1.93 million tons. Latest statistics from General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) as of 7 November.

Global steel demand, especially flat products, showed signs of recovery from the second half of 2020, while stronger global demand, on the other hand, narrowed the price gap relative to domestic steel prices in China, making it less attractive to Mysteel Global notes that China will buy steel products from overseas markets, leading to a decline from a record high in September.

However, China's steel imports in January-October were still 73.9% higher than a year earlier, at about 17 million tonnes, GACC data showed.

However, steel exports from China are recovering from 3.67 million tons in August, a new low since January 2013, and in January-October volume amounted to 44.43 million tons, which is still 19.3% less than in last year, but slightly better than 19.6 million tons. % compared to January-September on an annualized basis, according to the GACC.

The China Iron and Steel Association expects the decline in steel exports from the country to recover to about 15% year on year due to higher volumes in the fourth quarter of 2020 due to the growing price competitiveness of Chinese steel products, which so far seemed to be the case, Mysteel notes Global.

Since mid-August, the gap in steel export prices in China has been narrowing compared to global levels, for example, for 4.75mm SS400 hot rolled coils, it has grown by $ 32 per tonne per month to $ 505 FOB at Tianjin Port in North China as of August. 21, which is slightly higher than the SAE1006 HRC bid price of $ 505-510 per tonne CIF offered by the Vietnamese company Formosa Ha Tinh Steel (FHS) on August 13, as the latter was $ 45 per tonne higher than on a monthly basis for deliveries in October.

Mysteel estimates that steel exports from China will rise to 4.8 million tonnes in November, while imports will decline to 1.2-1.5 million tonnes, as the price gap further narrows between China and China in September before the Chinese yuan against the US dollar.