In the first quarter of 2026, both the import and export of steel in China showed a downward trend. According to the statistics from the General Administration of Customs, in terms of exports, in March, China exported 9.135 million tons of steel, a year-on-year decrease of 12.6%; from January to March, China's cumulative steel exports were 24.717 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 9.9%. In terms of imports, in March, China imported 512,000 tons of steel, a year-on-year increase of 2.4%; from January to March, China's cumulative steel imports were 1.339 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 14.1%. 

In terms of trade patterns, China's steel exports still maintained a significant net export situation, but the scale declined year-on-year. In March, the net export volume of steel was 862.3 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 13.4%, with the decline rate expanding by 13.1 percentage points compared to February; for the cumulative net export volume from January to March, it was 2337.8 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 9.7%.

In the first quarter, China's steel exports overall showed a significant year-on-year decline. The core reason was the impact of the new steel export license policy implemented on January 1, 2026, which brought a temporary shock. Coupled with the high base in the same period last year, weak global external demand, increased international trade barriers, and the marginal recovery of overseas supply, it led to an overall pressure and decline in exports. From a monthly perspective, in March, steel exports increased by 129.5 million tons compared to February, a 16.5% year-on-year increase, but still a year-on-year decrease. The recovery trend was further consolidated. The main drivers were: first, the impact of the new export license policy had been largely absorbed, and the entire process of customs declaration, booking, and delivery had returned to normal. The release of previous backlog orders continued, coupled with the seasonal concentrated shipments after the Spring Festival, directly driving the export volume to rise year-on-year; second, in the first week of March in China, domestic demand was still in the initial stage of recovery, with high steel factory inventories and production remaining at a high level. To stabilize operations and dispose of inventories, steel factories continued to increase overseas orders and shipments, ensuring sufficient export resources. Based on multiple factors, China's steel exports achieved marginal improvement in March as expected, showing a month-on-month moderate recovery and a year-on-year decline as the established trend. Looking forward to April, it is expected that China's steel exports will show a small fluctuation in the month-on-month basis and a continued decline in the year-on-year basis.

Despite multiple pressures on exports, the international price competitiveness of China's steel has not weakened. Recently, domestic export quotations have slightly decreased, while the quotations of major exporting countries abroad have risen. China's steel exports still maintain a significant price gap advantage. According to the monitoring data of the Langer Steel Research Center, as of April 14, 2026, the export quotation (FOB) of China's hot-rolled coil was 483 US dollars per ton, significantly lower than those of major competitors such as India (505 US dollars per ton), Japan (515 US dollars per ton), and Turkey (625 US dollars per ton), with price differences of 22 US dollars per ton, 32 US dollars per ton, and 142 US dollars per ton respectively. The price advantage still provides a solid support for the export scale.