China’s steel exports declined by 15.54pc in October to 4.03mn mt from the prior year, while they improved by 5pc from September as global economies started to recover. Imports slowed with a 33pc drop from September at 1.93mn mt, but was still up by 88pc from the prior October, according to China’s General Administration of Customs (GACC) data.
| China’s steel trade in October | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit: mn mt | Oct-20 | Oct-19 | Change YoY | Sep-20 | Change MoM |
| Imports | 1.932 | 1.025 | 88.49% | 2.885 | -33.03% |
| Exports | 4.039 | 4.782 | -15.54% | 3.828 | 5.51% |
In Jan -Oct period, China’s cumulative steel exports fell by 19.3pc to 44.425mn mt from a year ago. Cumulative steel imports during the period rose by 73.9pc to 17.705mn mt as China importers continued to import steel at prices competitive to their local market.
China’s imports rose as strong demand for steel absorbed the international excess of steel production amid the pandemic. The steel industry in China maintained stable production supported by accelerated construction activities in the domestic market.
In Q3, China’s GDP grew by 4.9pc from the prior year and in the first three quarters it increased by 0.7pc from prior period and turned positive. In the first nine months (Jan-Sept), China’s crude steel production reached 792mn mt, up by 4.5pc from a year ago with apparent crude steel consumption up by 8.94pc.
China’s iron ore and concentrates imported declined by 1.805mn mt to 106.742mn mt from September and fell by 14.9pc from a year ago. The unit price of iron ore imports was $119.81/mt. In the Jan-Oct period, China’s total iron ore and concentrates imports rose by 11.2pc to 975.204mn mt from the prior year.