In May this year, China exported a total of 5.41 million mt of finished steel, down by 2.52 percent from April, but up by 3.44 percent year on year, as announced by the Chinese customs authorities. In April this year, China's finished steel export volume had risen by 18.84 percent on year-on-year basis.
In the January-May period of the current year, China exported 25.4 million mt of finished steel, up by 15.4 percent year on year. Meanwhile, China's finished steel import volume in May totaled 1.25 million mt, down 0.79 percent from the previous month and decreasing by 5.3 percent year on year, following the year-on-year rise of 11.5 percent recorded in April.
Furthermore, in May this year China's imports of semi-finished steel amounted to 50,000 mt, while the country did not export any semi-finished steel during this period.
In May, China imported 68.56 million mt of iron ore, up 2.1 percent month on month and up 7.39 percent year on year, while the average iron ore import price during the month was $132.9/mt, declining by $6.13/mt compared to the previous month. Meanwhile, China's total import volume of metallurgical coke in May amounted to 420,000 mt, up by 50 percent month on month.