The spread between steel import and export prices in China widened to a record 10-year high of $707/tonne (t) in calendar 2023 (CY’23), as per data available with BigMint. In 2023, the average price per tonne of steel exported by China was at RMB 6,569/tonne ($914/t) a y-o-y decrease of 31%, ending six consecutive years of increase. Within this quantum, the share of exports of steel items with a unit price of more than RMB 6,000/t ($835/t) was about 38%, or 30 percentage points lower than in the previous year, proving the steady erosion in Chinese steel export prices over the last year. Average export prices fell 36% last year when pitted against the 10-year high of $1,434/t in 2022.
