September 10,
China’s steel exports in August went down to the lowest level since March after Beijing ended a 9% export tax rebate from July 15.
Exports fell 38% to 2.8 million tonnes in August from July, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.
The drop in steel product shipments is within market expectation after China cancelled a tax rebate for steel exporters as part of a drive to save energy and reduce emissions.
As the world’s biggest Iron ore consumer, China’s imports of Iron ore also fell 13% from July to 44.61 million tonnes in August, data showed.
“We purchased much less Iron ore in August and I believe imports will continue to fall in September after a large number of steel mills were shut down or cut production for the remainder of the year,” said an Iron ore purchasing official at a northern China steel mill.
More than 5 million tonnes of crude steel output is expected to be shut down in September, Custeel.com said, further damping the demand outlook for Iron ore
Source: Reuters
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