According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, China imported 1.17 million tonnes of steel products in August 2014, down 5.1% (or 60,000 tonnes) from a year earlier and down 4.1% MoM.

Exports of steel products in August rose 26.1% or 1.61 million tonnes YoY to 7.76 million tonnes. The figure was down 3.7% from the previous month.

Net exports in August were 6.59 million tonnes up 33.9% or 1.67 million tonnes compared to year-ago level. The figure also represented a month on month gain of 3.7%.

It exported 56.83 million tonnes of finished steel in the January to August period of the year, rising by 35.4% YoY.