Luo Tiejun, deputy director of the Raw Materials Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said on the 15th that the entire steel industry should guarantee a certain amount of exports, participate in international trade exchanges, and moderately participate in international competition.
Luo Tiejun made the above speech at the 2010 (5th) International Steel Market Forum held in Shanghai on September 15.
It is understood that with the gradual expansion of international steel demand, in the first six months of this year, China's cumulative export of steel products was 23.58 million tons, an increase of 152.3%. In July, China's steel exports fell, exporting 4.55 million tons of steel, down 1.07 million tons from June, the first decline since March this year. The August data released by the National Bureau of Statistics shows that China exported 2.8 million tons of steel, down nearly 40% from July. Luo Tiejun expects that steel exports this year will be 40 million tons, up 60% from last year, but about 30% lower than the levels in 2007 and 2008.
Luo Tiejun said that the steel industry should not restrict exports like crude oil and raw coal, but should participate in international competition and ensure trade exchanges with the international community.
Regarding the factors affecting steel exports in the near future, Huang Guohua, director of the Bureau of Statistics and Analysis of the General Statistics Department of the General Administration of Customs, said that there should be no restrictions on steel exports in the second half of the year; steel production will fall further and downstream demand will be relatively stable. Support for export prices; the US-Japan economic stimulus plan will form certain international demand; the cost pressure will be slightly alleviated. At present, domestic steel enterprises have received iron ore prices from the three major mines, down 10% to 13% from the third quarter. These are all factors that are favorable to China's steel exports. The rise of trade protectionism, the risk of exchange rate fluctuations, the intensification of the pressure on production capacity and the continued expansion of domestic steel companies and the uncertainty of the global economic recovery are factors that are not conducive to steel exports.