China's rolled product exports increased in January-February 2023

In January-February 2023, China increased its exports of rolled products by 49% compared to the same period of 2022, to 12.2 million tons.

At the same time, in the first two months of 2023, China reduced the import of rolled products by 44.2% compared to the same period a year ago, to 1.23 million tons.

Overall, in January-February 2023, Chinese exports decreased by 6.8% in monetary terms compared to the same period of 2022, to $506.3 billion. At the same time, imports decreased by 10.2% y-o-y in this period to 389.4 billion dollars.

In 2022, China reduced its finished steel imports by 25.9% compared to 2021 to 10.57 million tons. Thus, He Wenbo, chairman of the board of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), said that imports of steel products into the country have been minimal since 1993. In 2022, only cold rolled sheet and extra thick steel sheet import volumes increased compared to the previous year.

In addition, the gross profit of Chinese steel companies in 2022 decreased by 91.3% compared to 2021 to 36.55 billion yuan ($ 5.4 billion). The decrease in the profits of China's iron and steel companies was caused by the negative situation on the world market and the strict measures taken by the authorities to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.