Chinese Steel Export Increases by 18.8% to 2.47MT in September

Chinese steel export increased by 18.8% to 2.47 million tonnes in September from August, which represented month-to-month increase for 4 consecutive months, according to Chinese government. Chinese steel import increased by 20% in September from August while the export volume exceeded the import by 560,000 tonnes. Chinese exporters aggressively export steel products since Chinese steel output continues expanding from August and steel market price turned to drop. On the other hand, Chinese iron ore import reached 60 million tonnes for the first time. Chinese steel output is unlikely to decrease in near future.

Chinese steel export hit bottom at 1.35 million tonnes in May and turned upward in June. The export increased by more than 1 million tonnes from May. The import volume was higher than the export for April-June. The export turned to exceed the import by 70,000 tonnes in July and by 490,000 tonnes in August.

Compared with the same month of a year earlier, the export was lower by 63% in September. The export decreased by 67.6% to 15.71 million tonnes for January-September from the same period of 2008. The export is expected to almost half in 2009 from 2007 or 2008.

Chinese iron ore import increased by 29.9% to 64.55 million tonnes in September from August. The import increased by 11% from the monthly record in July. Chinese iron ore import is expected to reach 700 million tonnes in 2009 compared with 440 million tonnes in 2008.