Singapore — China's finished steel exports rose for the fifth straight month to 6.944 million mt, inching up 0.89% month on month and by 1.97% year on year, preliminary data released by the General Administration of Customs showed Friday.
Exports in June were also the highest since August 2017.
Over January-June, China's steel exports fell 13.2% year on year to 35.43 million mt.
The rise in China's steel exports during the month was widely within market sources' expectations, as June shipments, booked mainly during April, continued growing as Chinese steel prices extended falls.
China imported 1.04 million mt of steel in June, down 8.3% month on month and also 8.0% lower from a year ago.
In the first six months, steel imports fell 1.9% year on year to 6.67 million mt.
Net steel exports in June were at 5.904 million mt, up 2.7% month on month and up 3.9% from the year-ago month. Over January-June, China's net steel exports fell 15.5% year on year to 28.76 million mt.
