In December 2023, China's steel exports increased by 43.1% year-on-year, while imports decreased by 5.0% year-on-year. Steel exports have shown a slight decrease compared to the previous month and a significant increase year-on-year. Overseas manufacturing PMI is operating in a contraction range, and external demand still faces contraction pressure. It is expected that the export volume of steel will decrease by about 10% year-on-year in 2024, while the import volume will remain at a low level.
The price advantage of steel exports still exists, and external demand still faces contraction pressure!
According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China, in terms of exports, in December 2023, China exported 7.728 million tons of steel, a year-on-year increase of 43.1%; From January to December 2023, China exported a total of 90.264 million tons of steel, a year-on-year increase of 36.2%. In terms of imports, in December 2023, China imported 665000 tons of steel, a year-on-year decrease of 5.0%; From January to December 2023, China imported a total of 7.645 million tons of steel, a year-on-year decrease of 27.6%
In November 2023, global crude steel production continued to grow year-on-year. According to data from the World Iron and Steel Association, the crude steel production of 71 countries included in the association's statistics in November 2023 was 145.5 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.3%. Among them, the crude steel production in Africa was 1.8 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.1%; The crude steel production in Asia and Oceania was 104.8 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 2.2%; The crude steel production of the European Union (27 countries) was 10.6 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.2%; The crude steel production of other European countries was 3.7 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 22.2%; The crude steel production in the Middle East was 4.8 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.0%; The crude steel production in North America was 8.9 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.1%; Russia and other CIS countries+Ukraine produced 7.4 million tons of crude steel, a year-on-year increase of 14.8%; The crude steel production in South America was 3.5 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 0.6%.
The price advantage of China's steel exports still exists
Since 2024, the export prices of overseas hot coils have fluctuated slightly, while the export prices of Chinese hot coils have slightly increased. The advantage of China's steel export quotation still exists. The monitoring data of Lange Iron and Steel Research Center shows that as of January 11, 2024, the export quotation (FOB) of India, Türkiye and CIS for hot rolled coils is 635 dollars/ton, 705 dollars/ton and 610 dollars/ton respectively, and the export quotation (FOB) of China for hot rolled coils is 567 dollars/ton; At present, China's hot coil export quotation is 68 dollars/ton, 138 dollars/ton and 43 dollars/ton lower than that of India, Türkiye and CIS respectively.
