As per the latest customs data, China’s stainless steel next exports in the first five months of 2019 (Jan-May) stood at around 845,500 tonnes, down by 3.64% y-o-y basis, impacted by the increased presence of material from countries in the overseas market.
In the month of May, China exported about 319,000 tonnes of stainless steel, down by 25% against May’18 but up by 7% against Apr’19. Exports in January-May decreased 22% year on year, and came stood at 1.41 MnT. Exports of steel coil sheet, plate lost 31.3% from a year ago, to stand at 203,400 tonnes, lowered by greater market share of Indonesian products.
China is world’s largest stainless steel producer and its exports are highly being impacted by the ongoing Sino-US trade war. Also, the country is facing trade restrictions from its key markets (especially to Asian countries) hampering its exports. While in August 2018, India had imposed anti-dumping duty (ADD) on the imports of hot-rolled stainless steel products coming from China, Vietnam had also announced anti-dumping duties on import of cold-rolled stainless steel products for five years in October last year. Other countries like Indonesia has extended anti-dumping import duties for a number of flat-rolled iron and stainless steel products from seven countries, including China and Taiwan which has a share of 20% in country’s total stainless steel exports have also announced anti-dumping as well as countervailing duty on stainless steel coming from China.
In terms of imports, the country’s stainless steel imports jumped 88% from a month ago to 70,400 tonnes in May, with imports of plate/sheet coils rising 12% and pipe products expanding 28%. The country imported some 284,800 tonnes of Indonesian stainless steel in January-May, down 55% year on year. Stainless steel semi-products accounted for the majority of Indonesian imports in May.
In March, China imposed temporary anti-dumping measures on stainless steel products from Indonesia, the European Union, Japan and South Korea. Market experts expect China’s stainless steel production to fall in coming months as mills have overstocked and prices are sliding. Subsequently, it is being anticipated that the country’s net stainless steel exports are likely to fall further in the coming months also.
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