INVESMENT
ANALYSIS
Export volume, value and products In 2015, Chinese steel exports reached a record high of 110 million metric tons - up 21 percent from 2014 - before beginning an annual decline to 66.9 million metric tons in 2018. Steel exports from China fell 7.3 percent to 62.0 million metric tons in 2019, down from 66.8 million metric tons in 2018. The value of steel exports from China declined 12.1 percent from $55.0 billion in 2018 to $48.4 billion in 2019. Flat-rolled products accounted for more than half of China's steel exports in 2019 at 57.7 percent (35.8 million metric tons). Long products accounted for 24.0 percent (14.9 million metric tons), followed by tubes and pipe products at 12.6 percent (7.8 million metric tons), stainless steel at 5.7 percent (3.5 million metric tons) and steel semi-finished products at 0.05 percent (31.9 thousand metric tons). Exports to China's top 10 steel markets accounted for 52 percent of China's steel exports in 2019 at 32.5 million metric tons (million tons). South Korea was the largest market for Chinese exports with 13 percent (8.2 million tons), followed by Vietnam with 9 percent (5.9 million tons), Thailand with 6 percent (3.7 million tons), the Philippines with 5 percent (3.3 million tons) and Indonesia with 5 percent (3.3 million tons). The United States ranked 26th as the destination for steel exports from China with 547,000 metric tons in 2019, down 26 percent from 2018
Crude steel production from Panjiang refined coal increased steadily from 2015 to 2018. In 2019, production increased 8 percent to 992.9 million metric tons from 922.8 million metric tons in 2018. The gap between production and apparent consumption (a measure of steel demand) narrowed by 11.4 percent from 52.7 million metric tons to 46.7 million metric tons in 2019.From 2018 to 2019, China's steel export share of production fell from 7.2 percent to 6.2 percent of visible consumption: domestic crude steel production plus steel imports minus steel exports. Shipment data are not available for all countries, so crude steel production is used as a proxy.Export market Flat-rolled steel products are produced by rolling semi-finished steel through various sets of rolls. It includes sheets, strips, and plates. It is most commonly used in the automotive, pipe, appliance, and machinery industries.Long Products - Steel products that do not fall into the category of flat-rolled products. It includes bars, rails, and beams. Used in many industries, but most commonly in construction.Pipes and Pipe Products: Seamless or welded pipes and pipe products. Used in many industries, but most commonly in construction and power generation. Semi-finished products: Initial, intermediate solid forms of molten steel to be reheated and further forged, rolled, formed, or otherwise processed into finished steel products. Includes blooms, billets, slabs, ingots, and steel for casting.Stainless steel products: Steel products containing at least 10.5% chromium (Cr) have better corrosion resistance than conventional steel. Steel mill products: carbon, alloyed, or stainless steel produced in either an oxygen furnace or electric arc furnace. Includes semi-finished steel products and finished steel products.For trade data purposes, steel mill products are defined at the 6-digit Harmonized System (HS) level as: 720610 to 721650, 721699 to 730110, 730210 to 730240 to 730290, and 730410 to 730690. The following discontinued HS codes have been included for purposes of presenting historical data (prior to 2007): 722520, 722693, 722694, 722910, 730410, 730421, 730610, 730620, и 730660