China's indirect steel exports were badly hit, outlook remains bleak

摘要

China's exports of steel-intensive manufactured products were badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic during the January-April period and the outlook remains grim, market sources told S&P Global Platts Wednesday. Although some of the exports rebounded in April, steel market sources believe the upturn may be temporary, warning that challenges remain significant for the manufacturing export market in the second half of 2020, given so many uncertainties brought by the pandemic to the global economy. China's indirect steel exports through those steel-intensive manufactured products may continue to struggle in the rest of 2020, denting flat steel demand. China's export volume of home appliances, vehicles, ships and containers dropped 11.4%, 7.2%, 33.7% and 41.9%, respectively on the year over January-April, while export value of machinery fell 5.9% on the year over the same period, China customs data showed.