China turns net steel exporter in Oct after 4 months; exports seen rising further in 2021

Singapore — China returned to being net steel exporter in October after being a net importer over June-September, and market sources said Dec. 2 they expect the country's steel exports to continue rising in 2021 and push its annual volume back over the 60 million mt mark.

S&P Global Platts estimates China's steel exports will total around 55 million mt in 2020, down 14% from realized exports of 64.29 million mt in 2019.

China imported 1.61 million mt of semi-finished steel products in October, comprising mainly billet and slab, up more than eightfold year on year, despite being down a sharp 42% from September, latest customs data showed.

When added to finished steel imports, China's total steel imports in October were 3.54 million mt. The country exported 4.04 million mt of semi-finished and finished steel in October, resulting in net steel exports of 0.5 million mt, down around 86% on the year. In September, China's net steel imports stood at 1.84 million mt.

Market sources said global steel demand had improved in recent weeks and was likely to boost China's exports further in November and December, reducing the need to sell into the Chinese market.

Some sources said imports of semi-finished and finished steel were likely to increase occasionally in 2021, but China was unlikely to be a net steel importer again for the year, as demand for Chinese steel exports was expected to continue improving in 2021 from the level seen in the current quarter.