Recently, the Hebei Provincial Department of Commerce issued the province’s first steel export license for 2026 to HBIS Group. This marks Hebei’s first license issuance since China reinstated steel export license management after a 16-year hiatus.
According to a joint announcement by the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs, starting January 1, 2026, export license management will be implemented for selected steel products, including finished steel, pig iron and steel billets. Exporters are required to provide certificates of product quality inspection. The policy aims to guide optimization of the export structure and promote high-quality development of the steel industry.
Steel products are a key export category for Hebei. From January to November this year, steel exports from the province reached 322.7 billion yuan, accounting for 9.1% of Hebei’s total exports, with more than 2,500 foreign trade enterprises involved. Since the policy announcement, the Hebei Provincial Department of Commerce has strengthened policy communication and implementation support through issuing application guidelines, conducting demand surveys, and organizing online training sessions. Import and export license accounts have already been opened for more than 1,000 steel enterprises, ensuring the smooth rollout of the new policy and supporting compliant exports.
Industry analysis suggests that implementing export license management for steel products will help standardize export behavior and curb the disorderly outflow of low-end products through targeted controls. This is expected to accelerate the shift of China’s steel industry from “price-based competition” toward “value-based competition,” encouraging greater R&D investment and the development of high-end products such as high-performance bearing steel, gear steel and high-temperature alloys.
In total, steel products subject to export license management cover around 300 customs HS codes, spanning the entire industrial chain from raw materials to finished products. On the upstream side, this includes non-alloy pig iron, sponge iron and iron and steel powders; for intermediate products, rectangular-section billets and continuous-casting slabs are covered; and on the finished steel side, products include hot-rolled coils, cold-rolled coils and various coated and plated steel products.
