China's six major proposals for steel exports in 2013

From the distribution of steel export markets, steel exports in 2012 mainly concentrated in Asia. ASEAN has surpassed Korea as the largest export region, and its export volume to ASEAN has exceeded 25% of China's total steel exports, and it has increased by 48.83% year-on-year; exports to Korea have dropped slightly by 0.35%, accounting for 17.86% of total steel exports. . Compared with the same period in 2011, the fastest growing markets for exports in 2012 were North America, South America, West Asia, and Africa. As the EU market continued to decline and anti-dumping investigations were conducted on coated plates, steel exports to the EU in 2012 fell by 23.59% compared to 2011.

Six major proposals for stabilizing exports in 2013 In 2013, China's steel exports will show an overall stable trend. Exports of iron and steel enterprises should focus on the following aspects:

The first is to adjust the product structure and look for opportunities to upgrade export products. In recent years, with the improvement of scientific and technological research and development capabilities, the production of new products has been speeding up. Some high-value-added, high-tech products have the ability to compete in overseas markets. At present, under the circumstance that the demand for ordinary products in the international market is low and high-end products are still in demand, export enterprises, especially those with new product R&D capacity, should look for opportunities to open up markets and achieve market transformation and upgrading.

The second is to avoid excessive concentration of export markets. The capacity of the Southeast Asian market is limited, and Japan and South Korea have already had a certain scale of investment in this area. Concentrating on a large number of exports to Southeast Asia within a short period of time will cause dissatisfaction among local companies and can easily cause trade friction.

The third is learning advanced sales concepts, strengthening communication with users and after-sales services. Pay attention to communication with downstream users, strive to expand the scope of direct communication, learn international advanced sales concepts, and strengthen product after-sales service to increase the soft value-added products.

The fourth is to focus on the formulation and implementation of export strategies. We should change the concept of “export is a substitute for domestic sales”, pay attention to maintaining the overseas markets that have been opened up, and establish a trustable corporate image in terms of contract execution and quality assurance.

The fifth is to avoid risks. In the export process, attention should be paid to avoiding financial and political risks. Keep abreast of changes in local policies and economic conditions in the export market, and make risk assessments.

Sixth, do a good job of all-round preparation and reserve. As the competitiveness of China's steel products continues to rise, local conflicts and conflicts with major trading partners will persist for a long time. Export companies should be prepared for talent, mechanism, and professional knowledge.

In 2013, steel companies should continue to do a good job in foreign contracted projects to promote steel exports. At present, there are still some problems that need to be solved urgently. For example, the export of steel products driven by foreign contracted projects is based on general trade exports, and the tax burdens borne by enterprises are too high. The payment period for foreign contracted projects is long, and it is generally not until the completion of the project that the steel products can be settled. This is for iron and steel companies that are in urgent need of payment. It is a problem worthy of attention; there are still some uncontrollable risks for foreign contracting projects. In view of the above issues, there is still much work to be done in 2013 to promote export of steel products from foreign contracted projects. For example, the government should actively promote the introduction of relevant policies to promote foreign contracted projects to promote steel exports; to strengthen communication and coordination with the construction unit, and promote its rhythm phase procurement of steel, payment can be delivered at each stage. In addition, iron and steel enterprises should continue to follow the downstream industry's exports, and qualified companies should actively follow the overseas industry's overseas investment trends and carry out meticulous investigations, step by step following downstream industries to set up steel distribution points in overseas markets.