Posted on 16 Jan 2023
China's finished steel exports totaled 67.32 million tonnes during 2022, increasing by another 0.9% on year, according to the latest data released by China's General Administration of Customs (GACC) on January 13.
Chinese steel exports last year only enjoyed a slight on-year increase compared with the high base in 2021 when the country exported 66.9 million tonnes of finished steel – higher by an impressive 25% from 2020, as Mysteel Global reported.
During 2022, manufacturing activity globally weakened under the impact of the epidemic, inflation and geopolitical conflicts, leading to feeble overseas steel demand, a market source explained. This made it difficult for Chinese steel exports to see any significant recovery in the short term, she noted.
For example, the global manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) last December was 48.6%, 0.1 of a percentage point lower than in November and posting the seventh successive on-month fall, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing observed in a statement. The global manufacturing PMI had also stayed below the threshold of 50% (connoting contraction) for three consecutive months.
During December alone, China's steel exports totalled 5.4 million tonnes, lower by 3.4% on month, according to GACC's data.
Behind the on-month decrease in steel exports was the rise in Chinese steel export prices last December that reduced the competitive advantage the exports had enjoyed. At the same time, overseas buyers gave priority to purchasing local steel that was lower-priced or steel products from other countries.
By December 30, the export price of China-origin SS400 4.75mm HRC under Mysteel's assessment had strengthened by $55/tonne or 10.2% from November 30 to reach $595/t FOB from North China's Tianjin port.
Elsewhere, South Korean steel giant POSCO had also put pressure on Chinese steel exports after resuming operations at its Pohang works in mid-December. This followed the three-month-long suspension after super-Typhoon Hinnamnor had flooded the works in early September, as Mysteel Global reported.
Meanwhile, during December China imported about 700,000 tonnes of steel products, lower by 52,000 tonnes or 6.9% from the previous month. Last month's result meant that for all of 2022, China's total steel imports reached 10.57 million tonnes, plunging by 3.7 million tonnes or 25.9% from the same period in 2021, according to the GACC's statistics.
Source:Mysteel Global
