STEEL NEWS

Global steel exports increased by 3.2% in January-September

Total exports of steel products by the ten largest world suppliers (excluding intra-European supplies) for January-September 2025 reached 184 million tons, which is 3.2% higher than the same period last year. If we take into account China's exports of semi-finished products, which amounted to 1.49 million tons in September and 10.73 million tons in nine months, the total volume of deliveries reaches 194.7 million tons, showing an increase of 7.1% year on year.

The biggest contributor to this growth was China, whose companies increased exports of finished rolls and semi-finished products by 36.1% to 98.7 million tonnes, adjusting the commodity and geographical structure of supplies in response to anti-dumping investigations.

Japan and South Korea took second and third place with volumes of 21.0 million tonnes (-5%) and 20.5 million tonnes (+4%) respectively. The increase in South Korean exports was the result of a sharp increase in supplies to the United States before the introduction of higher tariffs, after which sales to the U.S. and EU markets decreased significantly. Similar problems in 2026 could be faced by Turkey (4th place, 12.3 million tons, +8%), whose exports to the EU will face reductions in quotas and carbon tariffs.

The same factors negatively affected Vietnam (7.0 million tons, -19%), India (6.2 million tons, -2%) and Taiwan (6.0 million tons, -10%), taking 8-10 places in the ranking. Russian companies increased exports (excluding supplies to the CIS) by 14% to 9.7 million tons, while Indonesia (7.2 million tons, -1%) and Brazil (7.0 million tons, +2%) remained virtually unchanged.