China’s Jan net exports of stainless steel rise 43% from a year earlier

SHANGHAI, Feb 27 (SMM) – China’s stainless steel imports declined 41.78% from a year earlier to stand at 134,000 mt in January, and exports fell 11.1% to come in at 319,500 mt, showed data from China Customs.

This brought net exports to stand at 185,400 mt, up 43% year on year.

On a month-on-month basis, imports of stainless steel expanded 35.67% last month, bolstered by increases in imports of sheet/plate coils, tubes/pipes and strips. A total of 98,800 mt of stainless steel sheet/plate coils imports entered the nation last month, soaring 79.49% from December but declining 27.5% from January 2018.

Exports of stainless steel rose 14.01% from December, with exports of sheet/plate coils up 12.71% to stand at 208,500 mt, down 21.77% on a yearly basis.

Chinese government is expected to announce its preliminary determination in the antidumping investigation of certain stainless steel imports from the European Union, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia in the middle of March.

Stainless steel imports from those countries are likely to be limited by import quota, which is set to bolster the stainless steel market in China in the short term.

For 2018, stainless steel imports that originated from Indonesia accounted for 60% of the total imports, Customs data showed.