Crude steel production in China declined 5% from 44.9 million metric tonnes in July to 42.6m tonnes in August. Net exports increased from 5.8m tonnes to 6.4m tonnes, and the export share of finished steel production continued its climb from 18% in July to 20% in August.
US long products imports licenses dropped to 207,000 short tons in August compared to July actuals of 212,000 tons. This is due mainly to lower licenses for importers of rebar (where licenses reached 69,000 tons in August compared to July actuals of 97,000 tons) and wire rod (62,000 tons licenses in August compared to 87,000 tons July actuals). You will also notice in the data below that July license applications were (unusually) much higher than actual July imports by 28%. This was mainly the result of wire rod imports which were much lower at 36,000 tons than wire rod licenses at 87,000 tons, most likely because of turmoil related to the June 3rd US International Trade Decision on sunset reviews for wire rod imports.
If you are following steel production and trade in China, you might be interested in the spreadsheet below which we will update each month. Since data is typically available six weeks after the end of each month, we are currently posting the July figures. August results should be available by September 20th.
China finished steel production fell 4.4% in July to 40.89 million metric tonnes, reversing the average monthly growth trend through June of about 3%. Net exports rose to 5.8m tonnes, the highest level since April 2007’s 5.5m tonnes. Finally, exports as a share of finished steel production grew from 12% in June to 18% in July.
US long products imports remained low at about 270,000 short tons in July, as reported by SIMA import licenses. May and June imports were similarly low (242,000 tons and 269,000 tons respectively) compared to peak 2008 levels of 440,000 tons in April. The April peak was due to rebar and wire rod imports that were about double levels in March, May, June and July.
US long products import licenses declined from a peak of 462,000 short tons in April to 238,000 short tons in May. About 65% of this decline is due to Turkey, which did not apply for any rebar or wire rod import licenses in May (nor did it in March). In comparison, Turkey’s rebar licenses were 105,000 short tons in April while wire rod licenses were about 39,000 short tons.
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