China exported 9.73 million tonnes of steel products in August, up 25.39% year on year and unchanged from July, showed the customs data on September 8.
The value of August steel exports stood at $5.14 billion, dropping 14.72% on year and down 3.3% on month. That translated to an average export price of $528.57/t in August, dipping 3.31% from July and down 31.99% year on year.
Over January-August, the exports of China’s steel products stood at 71.87 million tonnes, rising 26.5% from a year ago.
Total exports value during the same period stood at $42.98 billion, down 4.1% from a year ago.
China’s steel price dropped after a small rebound in early and mid-August. By end-August, the price of rebar fell 110 yuan/t on month to 2155.5 yuan/t.
In August, China’s export of steel products saw its competitiveness subduing, mainly due to currency devaluation in major steel importers, intensified international anti-dumping acts, and ample stocks in steel importers.
However, China’s steel products export may remain on an upward trend in September, due to flat domestic demand amid oversupply, said the China Iron and Steel Association.
The new export order sub-index under the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for China’s steel industry dipped 1.6 from July to 54.5 in August – the third consecutive month above the 50 mark, data showed from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP).
Meanwhile, China imported 1.02 million tonnes of steel products in August, dropping 12.8% on year and down 2.9% on month. The value of imports stood at $1.11 billion, dropping 11% from July and down 24.16% from a year ago.
Over January-August, the imported steel products amounted to 8.72 million tonnes, dipping 9.6% on year. The value totaled $10.07 billion, a decline of 16.4% year on year.
source: http://en.sxcoal.com