According to S&P Global Platts, China's semis imports, especially billet, may increase in the fourth quarter of this year as the power outage will lead to a decline in steel production in the country.
It will also affect mini-factories and small integrated businesses, especially those producing long products.
As a result, some Chinese experts predict that the shortage of long products in the national market in October-November will lead to an increase in the demand for imported billet.
But in December, the situation may change again. On the one hand, the construction sector will start to decline in winter, so the demand for long products will decrease. On the other hand, Chinese metallurgists, who fulfilled the plan to reduce production in 2021, can increase production again from January 2022.
According to the PRC General Customs Administration, in August, China received 1.123 million tons of steel semi-finished products from abroad, 7.4% more than the previous month, but 65.1% less than in August 2020.
In just eight months, China imported 7,937 million tons of semi-finished products, 30.2% less than the previous year, and a total of 17,397 million tons of steel arrived in the country, 26.2% less than January-August 2020. Last year, Chinese companies were actively purchasing steel products from abroad due to favorable market conditions. But now there may be other reasons for the increase in imports.
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