In September this year, China increased its steel exports by 3.3% compared with the previous month, to 10.49 million tonnes. This was reported by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA).
Compared with the same period in 2025, the figure rose by 0.3%.
Between January and September, Chinese steelmakers exported 85.64 million tonnes of steel products, down 2.6% year-on-year.
Steel imports into the country in September totalled 492,000 tonnes, up 13.4% on the previous month but down 10.2% year-on-year. Over the first nine months, this figure stood at 4.06 million tonnes (-10.5% year-on-year). The average price of these imports in September was $1,891.9 per tonne.
Iron ore imports into the country in September 2026 totalled 109.82 million tonnes (+1.2% month-on-month; -5.6% year-on-year), with an average price of $95.1 per tonne. In January–September, total imports of this raw material reached 954.97 million tonnes, which is 4.1% more than in the same period of 2025.
It should be noted that, by the end of 2025, China increased its steel exports by 7.5% year-on-year — to a record 119.02 million tonnes. Overseas shipments helped the country offset the slowdown in domestic demand. Steel imports into China last year totalled 6.06 million tonnes, down 11.1% year-on-year. Ore imports into the country in 2025 rose by 1.8%
year-on-year, to 1.26 billion tonnes.
As reported by GMK Center, CISA has called on Chinese steelmakers to strengthen their raw material supply chains, given the sector’s significant reliance on imported resources.
