Chinese steel exports fall in April

China's steel exports in April fell by 2.6pc to 6.31mn t from March, as Chinese mills shifted supply to domestic markets to meet recovering demand.

April steel exports dipped by 0.3pc from a year earlier. January-April exports fell by 11.7pc to 20.6mn t from a year earlier.

"Steel exports in April were not as bad as expected, as people were seeing that exports would halve from April to June comparing to the same period last year. But export volumes in May and June might decline by a wider range," an east China trader said. "If countries can recover economically from this month, China's export volume in second half would also resume," the trader said.

China's steel exports in March reached the highest since June 2018, as mills and traders took export orders when domestic demand was frozen amid the Covid-19 lockdowns in China. Spot trade was active in January and early February when March orders were taken.

But stronger domestic demand is curbing exports now.

"We have not exported any long steel products for almost one month and all May shipments were allocated to domestic market," said a leading rebar and wire rod producer in north China. Another major producer of hot-rolled coil in north China experienced the same, saying that his mill did not receive any large orders in the past few months amid weakening global demand and higher Chinese export prices.

China's April steel imports fell by 11.7pc to 1mn t from a month earlier. January-April imports rose by 7.4pc to 4.18mn t from a year earlier.

The wide spread between China and other countries' prices has attracted a surge of import orders set to arrive in May and June.

"Steel import bookings saw decent increase in April and Chinese demand backed up global steel market," an east China trader said. The decrease in steel exports may continue with more steel imports into China.

China's domestic steel markets began to recover from February.

The Argus Shanghai rebar ex-warehouse price increased by Yn150/t from 19 February to 16 March, when the rest of the world's steel markets came under pressure as the coronavirus spread. The Argus fob Turkey steel rebar assessment decreased by $23.20/t to $414.30/t, from 20 February to 20 March. Mills from other major steel exporting countries seized the opportunity when China was less focused on the international market.

Strong steel demand in China also bolstered iron ore consumption. China's iron ore imports in April surged by 11.4pc to 95.71mn t from March, up by 18.5pc on the year. Total imports of iron ore fines, lump, pellet and concentrate in January-April stood at 360mn t, up by 5.4pc year on year.