China's Net Import of Steel Not to Last Long, Experts
[2009-05-13]
China has been a net importer of steel for two straight months, but the situation will not last long, according to Li Xinchuang, vice director of China Mercury Industry Planning Institute.
The net import may be attributed mainly to the steel price difference between the domestic market and the international market, which is just a temporary issue, said Li.
China's net import volume of steel products amounted to 210,000 tons in April, and that of billet, 670,000 tons, according to Custom statistics.
The country exported 1.41 million tons of steel products in April, down 70.5 percent year on year, while its import volume increased by 7.77 percent to 1.62 million tons. It did not import billet in this month.
At present, billet FOB in some markets abroad ranged from 330 to 350 US dollars/ton, while it stayed at 420 dollars/ton on the domestic market.
Zeng Jiesheng, analyst from Mysteel.com, believes that the country's steel import growth is reasonable, but the export dropped too fast, leading to the net import.
It is predicted that the growth of steel import will slow, as product prices on the international market gradually recovered, coming closer and closer to the domestic price. Besides, Chinese producers will be able to reduce costs, after using up the stockpile of high-price iron ore.
Su Lifeng, researcher from Guoyuan Securities, said that China's raise of export rebate rate in March hadn't reached the expectation of the industry, so the rate can be further adjusted up as the steel export continued to decline.
The net import may be attributed mainly to the steel price difference between the domestic market and the international market, which is just a temporary issue, said Li.
China's net import volume of steel products amounted to 210,000 tons in April, and that of billet, 670,000 tons, according to Custom statistics.
The country exported 1.41 million tons of steel products in April, down 70.5 percent year on year, while its import volume increased by 7.77 percent to 1.62 million tons. It did not import billet in this month.
At present, billet FOB in some markets abroad ranged from 330 to 350 US dollars/ton, while it stayed at 420 dollars/ton on the domestic market.
Zeng Jiesheng, analyst from Mysteel.com, believes that the country's steel import growth is reasonable, but the export dropped too fast, leading to the net import.
It is predicted that the growth of steel import will slow, as product prices on the international market gradually recovered, coming closer and closer to the domestic price. Besides, Chinese producers will be able to reduce costs, after using up the stockpile of high-price iron ore.
Su Lifeng, researcher from Guoyuan Securities, said that China's raise of export rebate rate in March hadn't reached the expectation of the industry, so the rate can be further adjusted up as the steel export continued to decline.
Source: www.chinamining.org
Keywords:Steel
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