On August 29, Chinese major steelmaker Baoshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. held an interim results briefing for the January-June period this year, in which the company stated that the demand for hot-rolled products may remain slack in the third quarter amid the ongoing poor performance in real estate industry and weak sales in vehicles and commercial trucks sales, as well as some softening in the shipbuilding industry. However, the demand might indicate a rebounding trend in the fourth quarter amid the condition for construction activities likely seeing improvement. “It is expected that the national economic stabilization measures will be further implemented, which will help to boost market demand. Therefore, we judge that the market situation in the third quarter of this year is relatively severe, and demand will rebound moderately in the fourth quarter,” a company said in the briefing.
In 2024, the company plans to sell 52.22 million mt of steel with sales volume reaching 25.51 million mt in the first half, declining only slightly by 0.19 percent. In the second quarter, sales amounted to 12.99 million mt, down 3.41 percent year-on-year.
Moreover, exports of the company in the first half of 2024 hit the historical high of 3.035 million mt. “The company's export products are rich in categories, including high-strength automotive steel plates, marine and shipbuilding thick plates, silicon steel, high-end home appliances parts and other high-end products. These products account for a relatively high portion of the total export volume, and it is not a simple volume-based model,” the representative said.
Due to the increase in tariff barriers and the rise of international trade protectionism, there is a certain degree of uncertainty in exports in the second half of the year, Baosteel said.