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Where does South Africa get its steel? Import sources 2024

In 2024, South Africa imported $1.6 billion of steel (2.1 million tonnes), 0.5% of the world total. China sold 53% of the total, followed by Germany (13%) and Belgium (5%). South Africa was the world’s 46th-largest importer of steel.

Summary

Value
$1.6billion
Tonnes
2.1million tonnes
Share of world total
0.5%
World rank
46th
Routes from the main sources. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Sources

The 20 main sources in the latest year.

PartnerValue (USD millions)TonnesUSD per tonneShareMode
China841Tonnes: 1,490,706USD per tonne: $56453.3%Sea
Germany208Tonnes: 148,256USD per tonne: $1,40013.2%Sea
Belgium re-exports78.7Tonnes: 58,748USD per tonne: $1,3405%Sea
Japan69.4Tonnes: 81,162USD per tonne: $8554.4%Sea
Sweden47.4Tonnes: 26,738USD per tonne: $1,7733%Sea
France42.4Tonnes: 26,784USD per tonne: $1,5812.7%Sea
Austria40.9Tonnes: 28,561USD per tonne: $1,4312.6%Sea
India38.5Tonnes: 22,101USD per tonne: $1,7432.4%Sea
Italy24.9Tonnes: 13,405USD per tonne: $1,8541.6%Sea
Taiwan23.4Tonnes: 20,811USD per tonne: $1,1251.5%Sea
South Korea22.6Tonnes: 19,745USD per tonne: $1,1461.4%Sea
Netherlands re-exports20.6Tonnes: 14,906USD per tonne: $1,3801.3%Sea
Malaysia15.3Tonnes: 10,656USD per tonne: $1,4330.97%Sea
Zimbabwe11.5Tonnes: 26,201USD per tonne: $4400.73%Land
Spain11.5Tonnes: 8,933USD per tonne: $1,2870.73%Sea
Hong Kong re-exports9Tonnes: 9,967USD per tonne: $9010.57%Sea
United Kingdom8.5Tonnes: 6,025USD per tonne: $1,4170.54%Sea
Finland8.4Tonnes: 3,130USD per tonne: $2,6950.53%Sea
Indonesia6.4Tonnes: 10,174USD per tonne: $6310.41%Sea
Thailand4.7Tonnes: 4,737USD per tonne: $9990.3%Sea

Trend

Who it buys from

China has been its main source since 2011

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

  • China 841
  • Germany 208
  • Belgium 78.7
  • Japan 69.4
  • Sweden 47.4

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Partner19952024
China0.58841
Germany64.4208
Belgium14.478.7
Japan37.769.4
Sweden14.647.4

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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