Low prices, high volumes

摘要

Preliminary data for the first half of this year show exports 45-50 percent higher than in the first half of 1997, an additional 4m tonnes in volume terms. A comparison of imports over the same period shows a fall of 55-60 percent, or 1.7m tonnes. This strong rise in the volume of exports has been achieved partly at the expense of accepting lower prices-the impact on revenues being mitigated by exchange rate movements. It ha also been helped by a readiness to shift sales efforts upstream to lower value-added products and semi-manufactures-HR coil, billet, wire rod and, recently, slab. Over the past five years the switch between HR coil and CR plus coated coil has been particularly marked. The tonnage of HR coil exports in January-June this year was nearly three-and-a-quarter times the total in the first half of 1997, 4.1m tonnes compared with 1.3m tonnes.