China’s stainless steel imports totaled 99,500 tons in August, falling by 16.8% compared to the previous month and by 43% from the same month a year ago. Due to the weak demand in the domestic market, China decreased its imports. Among them, the supply from Indonesia dropped by 25% month on month and by 51% year on year to roughly 72,000 tons, accounting for 72% of the total import volume.

In the first eight months of this year, China imported a total of 1.33 million tons of stainless steel, up by nearly 15% year on year. Of these, Indonesia’s supply accounted for 84.7%, totaling 1.12 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 25.5%.

In terms of exports, China exported 488,000 tons of stainless steel in August, 18.9% higher than in July and a year-on-year hike of 33.4%, hitting a new single monthly high. Vietnam was the largest export destination during the period.

The cumulative stainless steel exports in the January-August period reached 3.26 million tons, rising by 23.3% year on year. Exports to Vietnam totaled nearly 300,000 tons, surging by 56% from a year ago period.