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China’s December steel exports up by 10.2pc on month

14 Jan 2021 09:39 GMT
China's December steel exports up by 10.2pc on month

Beijing, 14 January (Argus) — China's steel exports rose by 10.2pc on the month to 4.85mn t in December as Chinese mills leveraged sharp price gains in international markets from resurgent global steel demand.

December exports increased by 3.6pc from a year earlier, according to preliminary customs data, even as exports in 2020 fell by 16.5pc to 53.68mn t.

Most December steel export shipments were spot orders taken in October and November when prices in China and overseas markets trended up during recovery from Covid-19. Shanghai's hot-rolled coil (HRC) ex-warehouse prices assessed by Argus rose by 400 yuan/t ($62/t) to Yn4,230/t in 1 October-30 November. But the price increase in China lagged other major steel exporting countries, giving Chinese mills the edge to expand their share in the export market. The steel HRC fob Tianjin index assessed by Argus increased by $77/t or 15.4pc to $577/t during 1 October-30 November, and steel HRC fob black sea assessed by Argus increased by more by $110/t or 22.2pc to $605/t fob.

China's steel exports may increase further this month and in February, with many mills heard to have received satisfactory bookings for rebar, wire rod and HRC from South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, Pakistan, and South America in December. Most of those orders will be shipped during January-February, contributing to higher exports in the first quarter of 2021. Leading Chinese producers sold over 220,000t of wire rod in November-December, three times the sales in September-October, according to an Argus survey.

"The increase in exports is within expectation as only China has the steel capacity to meet global buyers' demand for restocking," said a north China exporter.

China's steel imports fell by 25.9pc on the month to 1.38mn t in December and dropped by 7.3pc on the year.

China's steel imports in 2020 rose by 64.4pc to 20.23mn from a year earlier.