Economy

Chinese Steel Consumption Down While Steel Exports Rise

Written by Brett Linton

July 17, 2015

Steel Market Update recently received data from Bradford Research covering Chinese production, trade, and consumption of steel and steel related products for the first six months 2015. It probably won’t come as any surprise that steel consumption is falling in China while exports, especially for finished steel products, are up by over 30 percent compared to the same period last year.

Production figures in June 2015 are within 2 percent of that month in 2014, with crude steel and pig iron production declining and steel production increasing. Year to date figures show that crude steel and pig iron production are also down over January-June 2014, while steel production is up 2.0 percent.

Chinese imports in June were up for steel products and crude steel, while steel semi imports were down. Year to date imports were down for all three items over January-June last year. 

Exports for steel products and crude steel were up in July over the previous year, as were YTD figures from 2014 to 2015.

Net exports for steel products and crude steel increased 30 percent in June over levels one year prior, while exports of steel semis declined. Year to date figures followed this same pattern.

Apparent consumption for crude steel and steel products declined 3.9 percent and 0.6 consecutively from May 2014 to May 2015. January through May data also decreased from 2014 to 2015, down 4.8 percent for crude steel and down 0.2 percent for steel products.

Brett Linton

Brett Linton is a senior analyst for Steel Market Update, where he began his career. Linton has been in the steel industry since 2010. He has held roles as a category manager and strategic insights director at Reibus before returning to SMU in 2024. He is a graduate of The University of North Georgia with a degree in Finance and Accounting. Brett can be reached at brett@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-314-0179.

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