China stainless steel imports fell for 2 months 

SHANGHAI, Dec 27 (SMM) – China's imports of stainless steel shrank for the second consecutive month in November, falling 42.36% from October to 50,500 mt, on the back of smaller intake from Indonesia, showed SMM calculations based on China Customs data.

China took 4,900 mt of stainless steel from Indonesia in November, 86% lower than a month earlier. 

On a yearly basis, overall stainless steel imports in November dropped 60.76%, with imports in the first 11 months of this year down 41.7% to 1.02 million mt.

Last month, China’s exports of stainless steel rebounded 4.52% from October to 328,900 mt, 7.91% higher than the corresponding month of 2018, boosted by frontloading before the Christmas break. 

Exports in January-November remained 9.82% lower from a year ago and stood at 3.35 million mt. 

Net exports of stainless steel, meanwhile, came in at 2.33 million mt in January-November, up 18.73% year on year as net exports in November jumped 58% on the year.