SMM Analysis: China’s steel sheets & plates exports decreased in H1 2025, with hot-rolled products leading the decline

• In H1, imports of sheets & plates fell by 17% YoY, with coated sheets (strips) and HRC showing more significant declines.

According to data from the General Administration of Customs, China's cumulative imports of sheets & plates in H1 reached 2.4987 million mt, down 17% YoY. By product type, cumulative imports of coated sheets (strips) fell by 38% YoY, cumulative imports of galvanized sheets (strips) fell by 23% YoY, cumulative imports of HRC fell by 23% YoY, and cumulative imports of medium-thickness plates fell by 17% YoY. In addition, cumulative imports of strip steel, cold-rolled steel, and electrical steel sheets (strips) all showed varying degrees of decline YoY.

• In H1, sheets & plates exports fell 0.4% YoY, while HRC exports dropped 19%.

According to data from the General Administration of Customs, China's cumulative exports of sheets & plates in H1 reached 36.3192 million mt, down 0.4% YoY. By product type, cumulative exports of HRC fell 19% YoY, a significantly larger decline than other sheet & plate products. Cumulative exports of cold-rolled sheet & coil fell 5% YoY. However, cumulative exports of other products, such as strip steel, medium-thickness plates, coated/plated sheets (strips), and electrical steel sheets (strips), all showed varying degrees of YoY growth, with coated sheets (strips) and plated sheets (strips) experiencing relatively significant YoY increases in cumulative exports.

From the perspective of the product mix of sheets & plates, in the first half of 2025 (H1), the export share of coated sheets (strips) increased from 25% to 28%, the export share of medium-thickness plates increased from 13% to 14%, the export share of painted sheets (strips) increased from 10% to 13%, and the export share of strip steel increased from 1% to 2%.
However, the export share of HRC decreased from 39% to 31%, and the export share of cold-rolled sheets remained unchanged compared to the first half of last year.

Against the backdrop of increasingly fierce competition in exports, the impact of anti-dumping measures continues to rise. In the traditional export structure of steel sheets & plates, the proportion of cold-rolled and HRC is gradually declining, while the proportion of materials with relatively high added value, such as coated/galvanized sheets (strips), is gradually increasing. In the long term, the pace of China's steel exports transitioning from low-end basic steel to high-end steel will continue to accelerate.