First steel import decrease recorded in China (Xinhua) Updated: 2004-07-29 17:01
China imported a total of 18.04 million tons of steel in the first half of
this year, down 2.74 percent year-on-year, according to statistics from the
China Iron and Steel Association (CISA).
CISA said this is the first time for China to witness a half-year steel
import decrease since 1998, and attributed it to the international steel price
being higher than the domestic price and to a decrease of domestic demand for
steel products.
The CISA figures show that the steel import decline was especially high in
May and June, when China imported 4.57 million tons of steel, a decrease of 30
percent year on year.
However, steel export increased 29.3 percent to 4.56 million tons in the
first half of 2004, according to CISA.
The economic recovery of the US and Japan has called for an increasing demand
of steel and most foreign steel producers could not expand capacities in a short
time, which led to the international steel price rocketing, experts say.