As per the latest customs data released by Chinese customs, the nation’s finished steel exports declined by 7% to 64.29 MnT in CY ’19 in comparison with 69.34 MnT in CY’ 18.
Reasons behind the decline in Chinese steel exports-
1. Better margins in the domestic market- In China, domestic buying remained active as the supply remained tight owing to the frequently announced production cuts. Also, Chinese steelmakers preferred to focus on domestic supplies over exports.
2. USA China trade spat- The weakening global market sentiments owing to US-China trade spat impacted the nation’s export volumes in CY ’19.
3. Frequently announced production curbs- Frequent production curbs announced by the Chinese government throughout the year to reduce emissions also weighed on the nation’s export volumes during the year.
4. Vietnamese importers prefer Indian origin HRC- Vietnamese buyers preferred importing HRC from India as compared to China owing to cost-effective offers. Thus, this also impacted export volumes in CY19.
However, on a monthly premise, China’s finished steel exports increased slightly by 2% to 4.68 MnT in Dec’19 as compared with 4.58 MnT a month ago.
China finished steel imports down by 7% Y-o-Y in CY’19- The nation’s finished steel imports volume summed-up to 12.304 MnT in (Jan-Dec) CY’19, tumbled by 7% as against 13.166 MnT in the similar time frame of CY’18.
However, the same surged by 42% M-o-M in Dec’19 to 1.483 MnT when compared with 1.042 MnT in Nov’19. As per the data maintained by SteelMint, Chinese finished steel imports hit an all-time high in Dec’19. Similar levels were last seen in CY’15.
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