China exported almost 94Mt of steel products in 2014, a rise of 50.5% over 2013, according to figures from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NRB).

Steel imports, claims the NBS, maintained a steady growth of 2.5% to stand at 14.43Mt.

Last year, net steel exports by China was equivalent to a crude steel export figure of 84.41Mt, up from 33.08Mt in 2013, according to the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA).

According to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) high value-added steel took up a larger proportion of China’s overall steel exports last year.

Between 1949 and 2014 China’s exports amounted to 596Mt while imports totalled 594Mt, the first time, apparently, that exports exceeded imports.

Source: China Metals