Chi Jingdong, vice secretary-general of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), has said that exports have eased the pressure from the overcapacity issue in the Chinese steel industry, where capacity exceeds domestic consumption. He made his comments at a recent seminar on China's steel pipe sector.
Mr. Chi noted that in January-October this year China's apparent consumption of crude steel was 566 million mt, up 2.2 percent year on year, while China's steel export volume in the given period amounted to 45.78 million mt, with net steel exports of 36.12 million mt, increasing by 7.02 million mt or 24.1 percent up year on year. As indicated by China's National Bureau of Statistics, China's crude steel output in the first 10 months of this year increased by 12.65 million mt. Mr. Chi commented that in the January-October period the increase in China's net steel exports was equivalent to 55.5 percent of the increase in the country's crude steel output in the same period.