Monthly report on steel product imports and exports in May
I. Overall situation of steel imports and exports
In May 2024, my country exported 9.631 million tons of steel, an increase of 407,000 tons from the previous month and an increase of 1.275 million tons from the previous year; the average export unit price was US$760.7/ton, a decrease of 2.2% from the previous month and a decrease of 17.5% from the previous year. From January to May, 44.655 million tons of steel were exported, an increase of 24.7% from the previous year; the average export unit price was US$780.2/ton, a decrease of 29.0% from the previous year; 1.163 million tons of steel billets were exported, a decrease of 17.4% from the previous year; and the net export of crude steel was 43.215 million tons, an increase of 8.910 million tons from the previous year, an increase of 26.0%.
In May, my country imported 637,000 tons of steel, a decrease of 21,000 tons from the previous month and an increase of 6,000 tons from the previous year; the average import unit price was US$1651.5/ton, a decrease of 3.3% from the previous month and a decrease of 4.9% from the previous year. From January to May, 3.043 million tons of steel were imported, down 2.7% year-on-year; the average unit price of imports was US$1,658.3/ton, down 4.1% year-on-year; 1.109 million tons of steel billets were imported, up 8.0% year-on-year.
II. Export of steel products
In May, the trend of “increased volume and falling prices” in steel exports continued. The export volume of most varieties and most countries or regions increased month-on-month, with exports to South America and Southeast Asia growing more significantly. The specific situation is as follows:
(1) Situation by variety
In May, the export volume of steel increased slightly month-on-month, and the increase mainly came from plates. Among them, cold-rolled thin wide steel strip, medium plate, and hot-rolled thin wide steel strip increased by 27.3%, 15.6% and 11.1% month-on-month respectively. In addition, the export volume of wire rod increased significantly by 24.5% month-on-month, the highest level since May 2021, among which the increase in ordinary wire rod was more obvious. The export of seamless pipes and coated plates decreased month-on-month, but was still at a high level. From January to May, except for seamless pipes, bars and thick steel plates, the export volume of the other 19 categories of steel products increased year-on-year, and the average export price of all varieties fell year-on-year.
In May, my country exported 458,000 tons of stainless steel, up 16.6% and 30.0% month-on-month and year-on-year respectively, the highest level since July 2022. Exports to Cambodia, Taiwan, China and Turkey increased significantly, with increases of 158.4%, 55.6% and 38.9% respectively. The cumulative export volume from January to May was 1.912 million tons, up 12.8% year-on-year.
(2) Regional situation
In May 2024, my country’s exports to major countries and regions increased month-on-month. Exports to ASEAN were 2.995 million tons, up 2.4% month-on-month, of which exports to Thailand and the Philippines increased by 20.7% and 11.8% month-on-month respectively. Among the major export countries and regions, exports to Chile, Taiwan, China and Pakistan increased significantly month-on-month, with increases of 125.2%, 80.0% and 65.8% respectively; exports to Saudi Arabia declined. From January to May, my country’s exports to major regions other than the EU continued to grow, among which the cumulative exports to ASEAN and the GCC increased by 32.6% and 37.0% year-on-year respectively. Exports to Vietnam increased by 83.9% year-on-year to 5.511 million tons, accounting for 60.8% of the total exports to Vietnam in 2023. Exports to the UAE and Brazil also increased by 48.5% and 56.3% respectively.
(3) Export of primary products
In May 2024, my country exported 313,000 tons of primary steel products, a further decrease of 6.5% month-on-month. Among them, only the export volume of steel billets increased month-on-month, and the export volume of direct reduced iron fell from the high level of the previous month to normal levels.
III. Import of steel products
In May, the import volume of steel fell slightly month-on-month, maintaining a low level, and the import region and product structure remained stable overall. The specific situation is as follows:
(1) Situation by variety
In May, the import volume of steel products fell slightly month-on-month, and there were certain differences in the changes of major varieties. Among the varieties with large import volumes, the import volume of medium plates, cold-rolled thin wide steel strips, and cold-rolled thin plates declined from the high point of the previous month, while the import volume of coated plates and medium-thick wide steel strips increased. From January to May, the year-on-year decline in the cumulative import volume of steel products gradually narrowed, and narrowed by 5.4 percentage points compared with January to February. The varieties with the largest year-on-year decline in import volume were cold-rolled thin wide steel strips and electrical steel plates, with declines of 29.1% and 52.1% respectively.
In May, my country imported 130,000 tons of stainless steel, a month-on-month decrease of 17.0% and a year-on-year increase of 3.7%. Among them, 105,000 tons were imported from Indonesia, a month-on-month decrease of 20.0%. From January to May, the cumulative import volume of stainless steel products was 640,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 8.2%.
(2) Regional Situation
In May 2024, my country imported 500,000 tons of steel from Japan, South Korea and Indonesia, accounting for 78.5% of the total import volume. Since the beginning of this year, my country’s steel imports from Japan have increased slightly, imports from Indonesia have reached a temporary peak, but imports from South Korea have declined overall. In the first five months, my country’s imports from most countries decreased year-on-year, and only imports from Japan and Indonesia increased.
(3) Primary product imports
In May 2024, my country imported 140,000 tons of primary steel products, a decrease of 23.8% month-on-month and a decrease of 45.2% year-on-year. Among them, the import volume of steel billets has decreased month-on-month for three consecutive months, and other varieties have also remained at a low level.
IV. Future Outlook
In May, steel exports remained at a high level. The characteristics of “increase in volume and decrease in price” of varieties such as hot-rolled coils and wire rods were obvious, which has aroused great attention from the outside world and intensified the risk of trade friction in steel products. As of the end of June 2024, 10 new trade remedy investigations had been initiated. It is estimated that in the first half of 2024, the total steel export volume will exceed 50 million tons, and the situation of increasing volume and falling prices is unsustainable.
