China's steel exports soar 139% in 2 mths

Chinese steel exports have continued their relentless surge in calendar year 2007. According to the official Xinhua news agency and the Chinese General Administration of Customs, the country's steel exports in the first two months of CY07 amounted to 8.75 mt, a whopping 139.3 per cent growth.

The growth in exports was powered by its steel billet exports, which grew 87.9 per cent year-on-year to 1.12 mt in the first two months of 2007, according to figures available.

Meanwhile, Chinese steel imports amounted to 2.7 mt in the first two months of CY07, a decline of 4.6 per cent y-o-y. In 2006, Chinese steel exports amounted to 43.01 mt, a growth of 109.6 per cent on a y-o-y basis.

The Chinese government has taken several steps over the last two years to curb the growth in the steel industry, with the latest measures announced in the first week of March. According to the latest measure, the Chinese government has announced that it plans to reduce its steel-making capacity by 35 mt in CY07.

The neighbouring country also plans to reduce its steel capacity by 100 mt by CY07. Chinese crude steel output amounted to 418.78 mt in CY06, up 18.48 per cent year-on-year, according to the Brussels-based International Iron and Steel Institute.

The Chinese steel production alone had accounted for 33.7 per cent of the total global production during CY06.