Steel exports fell 10.41% month-on-month, and hot-rolled coils fell 22.7% month-on-month.

 

Chinese Steel FOB Price (Unit: USD/ton)

Varieties	Port	Price (USD/ton)	Month-on-month decrease (US dollars/ton)
Hot-rolled coils	Tianjin Port	458	-39
Cold-rolled coils	Tianjin Port	544	-24
Hot-dip galvanized coils	Tianjin Port	600	-22
Medium and thick plates	Tianjin Port	465	-31
Rebar	Zhangjiagang	475	-28
Wire rods	Zhangjiagang	475	-34

China’s Export Overview

In July 2024, the export volume of steel products was 7.83 million tons, a decrease of 10.41% from the previous month and an increase of 8.5% from the previous year. From January to July, the cumulative export volume was 61.23 million tons, an increase of 21.8% year-on-year. The import volume was 500,000 tons, a decrease of 12.28% from the previous month and a decrease of 25.6% year-on-year. From January to July, the cumulative import volume was 4.12 million tons, a decrease of 6.7% year-on-year. Overall, affected by the traditional off-season demand, the export volume continued to decline in July, the domestic supply and demand pressure was high, and the import volume continued to decline.

Export volume of major steel products in China (10,000 tons)

Types	July 2024	Month-on-month	January-July 2024	Year-on-year
Steel	782.7	-10.5%	6122.7	21.8%
Billet	35.2	13.8%	182.4	-5.6%
Rods and Steel wires	89.9	-13.9%	700.4	10.3%
Hot-rolled coils	152.2	-22.7%	1578.2	47.8%
Cold-rolled coils	62.3	-13.7%	460.2	22.6%
Medium and thick plates	74.6	-14.7%	555.5	14.6%
Coated plates	155.9	4.5%	1070.3	20.6%
Coated plates (strips)	59.6	-9.0%	416.1	16.2%
Angle profiles	41.0	5.3%	292.0	10.1%
Pipes	83.5	-12.6%	610.7	3.9%
Railway steel	8.3	28.5%	46.4	42.9%
Electrical steel plates (strips)	13.3	28.4%	83.0	22.6%
Others	42.1	-11.6%	309.9	16.6%

Top 10 destination markets for China’s finished steel exports (10,000 tons)

Country	July 2024	Month-on-month	Year-on-year
Vietnam	62.6	-27.3%	-2.2%
South Korea	53.1	-11.4%	-13.2%
Thailand	52.6	26.1%	77.4%
Philippines	41.3	-11.0%	9.4%
UAE	38.8	-1.9%	44.4%
Brazil	36.5	23.8%	34.5%
Indonesia	35.4	-12.5%	50.8%
India	29.1	-7.4%	0.5%
Saudi Arabia	28.7	-11.2%	37.2%
Türkiye	22.9	-45.3%	7.8%

 

In July 2024, China’s billet exports were 350,000 tons, up 13.76% from the previous month and 36.17% from the previous year. From January to July, China’s total billet exports were 1.82 million tons, down 110,000 tons from January to July last year, a decrease of 5.64%. Overall, China’s billet exports showed a steady upward trend.

The export value of Chinese billets per ton was US$500/ton, down US$53/ton from July last year, a decrease of 9.65%. Judging from the trend of China’s billet export value, in the past year, the export value of billets per ton has fluctuated in the range of US$500-580, and the price in July was the lowest in a year.