In 2021, China exported 66.895 million mt of finished steel, up 24.6% year on year.

Though overall production volumes in China dropped in 2021, lower consumption (especially in the second half of the year) led to a sharp increase in exports.

But at the same time, the sharp increase compared to 2020 was partly due to the low base in that year, while in comparison with 2019 exports in 2021 increased just by 4%.

In December, China exported 5.026 million mt of finished steel, up 3.6% year on year, while rising 15.2% month on month.