Market Research Department of China Iron and Steel Industry Association
In the 1st quarter, China imported 1.748 million tonnes of steel, a year-on-year decline of 8.6%; the average unit price of imports was US$1,642.3/tonne, a year-on-year decline of 4.1%; imported billet 901,000 tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 34.0%. China exported 25.80 million tonnes of steel, up 30.7% year-on-year; the average unit price of exports was US$788.5 per tonne, down 33.4% year-on-year; exported 564,000 tonnes of billet, up 37.6% year-on-year; net crude steel exports of 24.603 million tonnes, up 6.027 million tonnes year-on-year, up 32.4%.
In March, China imported 617,000 tonnes of steel, an increase of 91,000 tonnes, down 65,000 tonnes year-on-year; the average unit price of imports was US$1,626.9 per tonne, down 3.5% year-on-year, and down 2.1% year-on-year. China exported 9.888 million tonnes of steel, an increase of 2.720 million tonnes from a year earlier, and an increase of 1.998 million tonnes year-on-year; the average unit price of exports was US$783.7 per tonne, a drop of 0.4% from a year earlier, and a drop of 39.4% year-on-year.
China's steel exports continue to climb
In the first quarter, China's steel exports continued to climb, of which the export volume in March was close to ten million tonnes of magnitude, the highest since August 2016, the highest value. The export volume of major steel products have all increased, and the export volume of coated plates, hot rolled thin and wide steel strips, etc. is at a historical high.
In March, in addition to the decline in exports of railway steel, other steel varieties exports increased to varying degrees. Export growth mainly from the coating plate and hot-rolled thin and wide steel strip, both monthly exports are at an all-time high. The largest increase in exports is rebar, with ring growth of 1 time, exports to the Netherlands, Guinea, Germany and other markets increased significantly.
In the 1st quarter, China exported 1.062 million tonnes of stainless steel, an increase of 9.8% year-on-year; March's export volume of 386,000 tonnes, an increase of 49.6% ringgit, the export price advantage is obvious, exports to Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan Province of China exports ringgit growth of more than double. In the 1st quarter, China exported 1.981 million tonnes of special steel, a year-on-year decrease of 11.9%; exports in March were 782,000 tonnes, up 47.0% from a year earlier.
Significant growth in exports to major countries and regions.
In the first quarter, China's steel exports are wide and obvious growth. In the main export destination countries, 8 countries cumulative exports of more than a million tonnes, of which only to South Korea, and Thailand exports fell year-on-year, to Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia exports are more than 50% year-on-year growth. in March, in addition to the UAE exports falling year-on-year, China's exports to the major countries and regions increased significantly, of which the export of Thailand increased by 1.1 times compared with the ring to the plated sheet and wire rod mainly.
The increase in exports came from billet and pig iron.
In the first quarter, China exported 604,000 tonnes of primary iron and steel products, up 37.9 per cent year-on-year, with incremental exports coming from billet and pig iron.In March, billet exports increased sharply year-on-year, but the volume of export orders has shown a downward trend, and it will be difficult to maintain a high level of exports in the later period.
Steel product imports average less than 600,000 tonnes per month
In the 1st quarter, steel imports continued to fall, averaging less than 600,000 tonnes per month, but the average import price was firm.
Only medium-thickness wide steel strip imports maintained year-on-year growth.
In the first quarter, China's main imports of product structure change is not big, plate, coating plate, cold rolled thin plate, medium-thickness wide steel strip imports ranked in the top four, accounting for 64.1 per cent of the total imports, of which only medium-thickness wide steel strip imports to maintain growth year-on-year. in March, in the 22 categories of steel varieties, there were 19 varieties of imports of growth in imports of medium-thickness wide steel strip and cold-rolled steel sheet imports declined in imports of the ring.
In the 1st quarter, China's imports of stainless steel 353,000 tonnes, an increase of 1.8% year-on-year; imports in March was 88,000 tonnes, a decrease of 36.3%, Indonesia stainless steel resources back to the flow of the obvious reduction. In the 1st quarter, China's imports of special steel 482,000 tonnes, a year-on-year decrease of 38.1%; imports in March was 177,000 tonnes, an increase of 21.5%.
China's imports from Indonesia fell sharply by 47.7 per cent in March.
In the 1st quarter, China imported a total of 1.429 million tonnes of steel from Japan, South Korea and Indonesia, a year-on-year decline of 4.6%, accounting for 81.7% of total imports. In March, China's imports from Japan and South Korea increased by 34.1% and 27.2%, respectively, but imports from Indonesia fell sharply by 47.7%.
Billet and pig iron imports in March were down from a year earlier.
In the 1st quarter, China imported 1.216 million tonnes of primary iron and steel products, an increase of 0.8% year-on-year. 316,000 tonnes of primary iron and steel products were imported in March, down 32.2% sequentially, and imports of steel billet and pig iron were both down sequentially.
Post-quarter outlook
In the first quarter, of the slow start of construction projects, the domestic steel demand recovery is slow, although the domestic supply has fallen, the steel market is still facing a stage of mismatch between supply and demand, resulting in domestic steel prices being shocked downward. Domestic and foreign price differentials remain high, China's steel exports continued to climb in March, with the scale of exports close to ten million tonnes, but steel exports, ‘the volume of price drops’ trend is obvious. It is worth paying attention to, the steel exports increased significantly at the same time, 2023 so far China's steel products have been subjected to a total of 42 trade remedy investigations, especially emerging markets and developing economies initiated a number of cases on the rise. Steel enterprises should treat exports rationally and optimise the export structure.
Post time: May-23-2024