Posted on 23 Jun 2026
China's stainless steel exports rebounded by 5.4% from April to 415,678 tonnes in May, new data from the General Administration of Customs (GACC) show. The volume is still down 4.7% from the same month last year, however.
For January-May, cumulative stainless exports reached 1.61 million tonnes, down 23.6% year-on-year, the data suggest.
The on-month increase in May exports resulted largely from surging shipments to India and Turkey.
China's exports of stainless products to India reached 46,416 tonnes last month, the highest since October 2024, jumping 29.5% month-on-month and soaring 161.5% year-on-year, according to the Customs data.
The cumulative export volume to India over January-May totalled 123,244 tonnes, skyrocketing 75.8% from a year earlier.
The sharp rise came as India faced domestic supply shortages, a Mysteel analyst notes. Indian authorities extended the exemption period for mandatory Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification on stainless flat products to bridge the supply gap and meet downstream demand, prompting local buyers to turn to competitively priced Chinese cargoes, she explained.
Meanwhile, shipments to Turkey stood at 32,619 tonnes last month, jumping 35.1% from April, the GACC data indicate.
As EU Customs Union members, Turkish stainless mills have prioritized supplying the European market, where tighter import quotas and higher safeguard duties have lifted local prices and extended delivery lead times, allowing Turkish mills to earn higher returns on sales, Mysteel Global understands. This has rendered the Turkish domestic market short of stainless supply, prompting Turkish buyers to turn to Chinese stainless offering better cost competitiveness to make up the shortfall.
By contrast, China's stainless imports fell sharply in May, largely due to a halving of shipments from Indonesia. China's total stainless imports stood at 91,121 tonnes last month, plunging by 46.3% month-on-month and 27.1% year-on-year, according to the GACC statistics. Within the total, imports from Indonesia tumbled 50.3% from April to 71,903 tonnes, down 27.6% year-on-year.
For January-May, China's cumulative stainless imports reached 636,800 tonnes, down 11.3% year-on-year, while cumulative exports over the same period fell 23.6% year-on-year to 1.61 million tonnes.
As a result, China's stainless net exports for May amounted to 324,600 tonnes, surging 44.5% month-on-month and rising 4.3% year-on-year. However, cumulative net exports over January-May stood at 976,100 tonnes, still down a sharp 29.9% year-on-year, the GACC data show.
Source:Mysteel Global
