Posted on 09 Dec 2025
China's finished steel exports rose 6.7% on year to 107.72 million tonnes during the first 11 months of 2025, according to the latest data released by the General Administration of Customs (GACC) on December 8.
During November alone, China exported 9.98 million tonnes of steel, up 2% on month and 7.5% on year, the data showed.
The November result means that China's total steel exports for 2025 will almost certainly break the record of 112.4 million tonnes set in 2015 to hit an all-time high, Mysteel Global noted.
Behind the robust statistics remains the price competitiveness of Chinese steel products, which expanded during October and November when elevated domestic steel inventories pushed steelmakers to lower their offers to promote sales abroad.
For example, Chinese export prices for SS400 3mm hot-rolled coil (HRC) in North China's Tianjin port under Mysteel's tracking sat low at $440/t FOB by the end of October, down by a substantial $40/tonne from end-September. By comparison, S235JR 2-4mm HRC from member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) that Mysteel regularly monitors was quoted at $470/t FOB.
At the same time, HRC inventories at Chinese steel mills and in the 194 commercial warehouses nationwide tracked by Mysteel totaled 5.24 tonnes as of end-October, higher by 8.3% from the same period last year.
Meanwhile, as infrastructure and construction sectors in emerging markets such as the Southeast Asia, Middle East and Africa stay vibrant, strong local demand has kept fuelling steel exports to these regions.
According to the latest data released by China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), among the ten countries that imported the most Chinese finished steel items in October, five of them were in Southeast Asia, and three in the Middle East. During January-October, China's finished steel exports to African Union totaled 13.78 million tonnes, accounting for 14.1% of total Chinese steel exports and up by 0.3 percentage point from the same period last year.
Also in the first ten months, China's exports of construction-related steel such as rebar, wire rod, heavy sections rose by 49.4%, 54.8% and 32.8% to register 3.21 million tonnes, 7.68 million tonnes and 5.17 million tonnes respectively, the CISA data indicated.
During January-November on the import front meanwhile, China's finished steel imports totaled 5.54 million tonnes, down by 10.5% on year, the GACC data showed.
Source:Mysteel Global
