Trade and industrial sources said that overall steel demand in China is expected to remain weak in the traditionally stronger second quarter of this year, after the country’s net exports of semi-finished steel hit their highest level in nearly eight years in March, even as production fell by last year.

The sources said that steel production in the second quarter may rise slightly from the first quarter but may remain lower than the previous year, and is likely to continue to monitor iron ore prices. Large production and weak demand

The latest data from Chinese Customs showed that China’s net steel exports of finished products  in March rose by 29.8%  to 9.447 million tons.

The outflows were the highest since July 2016, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights calculations based on customs data.

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In the first quarter of 2024, net semi-finished and finished steel exports increased by 35%, equivalent to 6.161 million tons, to 23.712 million tons.

Meanwhile, China’s crude steel production in March fell by 7.8% to 88.27 million tons, bringing total steel production in the first quarter to 256.55 million tons, down 1.9%, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

Domestic steel consumption in China in March fell 13.1% to 77.93 million tons, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights calculations. Domestic steel consumption decreased in the first quarter by 6.3%, reaching 218.81 million tons.

Apparent consumption equals raw steel production minus net exports and excess steel inventories and reflects the amount of steel actually consumed domestically.