Can China’s steel exports rebound?

With China still struggling with its construction sector, prices for steel rebar reached fresh 5-year lows last week and production margins fell the lowest in a decade.

A chart displaying the evolution of China's steel product exports from January to December, comparing data from 2022, 2023, and 2024, with each year represented by different colors from the IG color palette. Additionally, a shadow range in grey color represents the 5-year variation.

Although experiencing slowing momentum since Mar’24, Chinese steel exports have remained up +7% YoY in July. As the incentive for Chinese steel mills to exports has remained intact, it remains to be seen if the multiplication of protectionist steps targeting their products can succeed!


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