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Who buys China’s steel? Export destinations 2024

In 2024, China exported $68.8 billion of steel (95.1 million tonnes), 19.7% of the world total. Its main destinations were Vietnam (10%), South Korea (8%) and Thailand (5%). China was the world’s largest exporter of steel.

Summary

Value
$68.8billion
Tonnes
95.1million tonnes
Share of world total
19.7%
World rank
1st
Routes to the main destinations. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Destinations

The 20 main destinations in the latest year.

PartnerValue (USD billions)TonnesUSD per tonneShareMode
Vietnam7.2Tonnes: 12,166,650USD per tonne: $59210.5%Sea
South Korea5.3Tonnes: 7,731,811USD per tonne: $6907.8%Sea
Thailand3.5Tonnes: 4,791,432USD per tonne: $7215%Sea
Indonesia3.4Tonnes: 5,102,159USD per tonne: $6675%Sea
United Arab Emirates3.1Tonnes: 4,738,252USD per tonne: $6494.5%Sea
Turkey3Tonnes: 3,913,914USD per tonne: $7704.4%Sea
Saudi Arabia2.8Tonnes: 4,117,552USD per tonne: $6874.1%Sea
India2.6Tonnes: 2,687,266USD per tonne: $9753.8%Sea
Brazil2.4Tonnes: 3,108,197USD per tonne: $7653.5%Sea
Philippines2.2Tonnes: 3,585,455USD per tonne: $6203.2%Sea
Malaysia1.7Tonnes: 2,384,588USD per tonne: $7202.5%Sea
Taiwan1.6Tonnes: 1,608,999USD per tonne: $1,0202.4%Sea
Italy1.3Tonnes: 1,429,622USD per tonne: $9382%Sea
Russia1.2Tonnes: 963,421USD per tonne: $1,2521.8%Land
Japan1.1Tonnes: 1,176,497USD per tonne: $9771.7%Sea
Egypt1.1Tonnes: 1,238,701USD per tonne: $8321.6%Sea
Pakistan1Tonnes: 1,733,500USD per tonne: $6031.5%Sea
Mexico0.88Tonnes: 771,762USD per tonne: $1,1361.3%Sea
Peru0.87Tonnes: 1,336,513USD per tonne: $6481.3%Sea
South Africa0.84Tonnes: 1,490,706USD per tonne: $5641.2%Sea

Trend

Who it sells to

Vietnam has been its main destination since 2024

Value in USD billions. The five largest destinations in 2024.

  • Vietnam 7.2
  • South Korea 5.3
  • Thailand 3.5
  • Indonesia 3.4
  • United Arab Emirates 3.1

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Partner19952024
Vietnam0.027.2
South Korea0.865.3
Thailand0.413.5
Indonesia0.133.4
United Arab Emirates0.013.1

Sources and methodology

Sources and licenses

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), which reconciles what exporters and importers report: countries that stopped reporting (Russia since 2022) appear with their partners’ data. FOB values in current US dollars; tonnes when BACI reports them. The price per tonne is the value of the rows with a weight divided by that weight. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. Data up to 2024.

Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands and Belgium re-export goods from other countries: their figures include transit.

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