Between January and February, Vietnam, South Korea, Colombia, the EU and Malaysia imposed antidumping duties on certain Chinese steel products.

These duties affect about 5 million mt/year of steel imports into these countries from China, according to market sources and data from S&P Global Market Intelligence’s Global Trade Analytics Suite.

In addition, 20 more trade cases, mainly antidumping duties, from 15 countries and regions against Chinese steel are currently under investigation. If all cases lead to the imposition of import duties, over 9.5 million mt/year of China’s steel exports could be affected, according to the GTAS data.

Some trade sources expected China’s steel exports to face greater challenges in the second half of 2025 as more countries are likely to impose import tariffs on Chinese steel.

“While the domestic steel demand is unlikely to improve in 2025, China’s steel exports are almost certain to fall this year, after hitting an all-time high in 2024 ...

If the government can really impose an order to cut China’s crude steel output by 50 million mt in 2025, from 1.005 billion mt in 2024, the Chinese steel prices can gain some support,” said another mill source.

He said that if the government-mandated output cuts cannot be strictly enforced, there might still be some downside potential for Chinese steel prices.

China’s net finished steel exports over January-February increased by 7.7%, or 1.141 million mt, year over year, to 15.922 million mt.