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Who buys South Africa’s steel? Export destinations 2024

In 2024, South Africa exported $1.6 billion of steel (1.7 million tonnes), 0.5% of the world total. Its main destinations were Zimbabwe (10%), the United States (8%) and Mozambique (8%). South Africa was the world’s 34th-largest exporter of steel.

Summary

Value
$1.6billion
Tonnes
1.7million tonnes
Share of world total
0.5%
World rank
34th
Routes to the main destinations. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Destinations

The 20 main destinations in the latest year.

PartnerValue (USD millions)TonnesUSD per tonneShareMode
Zimbabwe158Tonnes: 148,897USD per tonne: $1,06410.1%Land
United States132Tonnes: 110,857USD per tonne: $1,1898.4%Sea
Mozambique128Tonnes: 155,995USD per tonne: $8218.2%Sea
Zambia98.5Tonnes: 103,103USD per tonne: $9556.3%Sea
Tanzania80.7Tonnes: 129,835USD per tonne: $6215.2%Sea
Botswana76.4Tonnes: 81,893USD per tonne: $9334.9%Land
Spain75.9Tonnes: 25,404USD per tonne: $2,9874.9%Sea
Namibia58.4Tonnes: 50,353USD per tonne: $1,1613.7%Land
Sri Lanka53.1Tonnes: 109,277USD per tonne: $4863.4%Sea
Kenya45.6Tonnes: 96,847USD per tonne: $4712.9%Sea
Democratic Republic of the Congo40.3Tonnes: 20,798USD per tonne: $1,9362.6%Sea
Germany39.7Tonnes: 26,498USD per tonne: $1,4982.5%Sea
Uganda38.1Tonnes: 50,872USD per tonne: $7482.4%Sea
Eswatini36.8Tonnes: 33,172USD per tonne: $1,1102.4%Land
Netherlands re-exports33.1Tonnes: 36,028USD per tonne: $9182.1%Sea
Italy30.1Tonnes: 20,185USD per tonne: $1,4931.9%Sea
Ghana29.9Tonnes: 59,792USD per tonne: $5001.9%Sea
United Kingdom28.2Tonnes: 12,074USD per tonne: $2,3331.8%Sea
Lesotho23.6Tonnes: 25,726USD per tonne: $9181.5%Land
Malawi21.8Tonnes: 19,352USD per tonne: $1,1271.4%Sea

Trend

Who it sells to

Zimbabwe has been its main destination since 2023

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

  • Zimbabwe 158
  • United States 132
  • Mozambique 128
  • Zambia 98.5
  • Tanzania 80.7

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Partner19952024
Zimbabwe79.4158
United States129132
Mozambique25.4128
Zambia11.798.5
Tanzania680.7

Sources and methodology

Other products of this country

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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