Finished steel shipments in January are higher both annually and since December.
Chinese finished steel exports increased in January on both a yearly and month on month basis with buyers able to secure favorable deals due to lower prices in China’s domestic market.
The country shipped 6.19 million tonnes of finished steel out of the country last month, up 33.3% from an adjusted 4.64 million tonnes in January 2018, according to preliminary Chinese customs data released on Thursday February 14.
Last month’s shipments were also 11.3% higher than the 5.56 million tonnes of finished steel exported in December.
Fastmarkets’ fob China HRC Index, for instance, averaged about $497 per tonne fob between November 1 and December 15, when the orders for most January-shipment materials were taken, down $70 per tonne from $567 per tonne during the corresponding period a year earlier.
Even though steel prices have fallen, due to the significant year-on-year rise in volumes, this January’s finished steel exports were worth about 35.12 billion yuan ($5.19 billion), up 25.2% from 28.04 billion yuan in January 2018.
