Steel & aluminum export soars China's import and export trade back on track
The global manufacturing PMI expansion slowed down, and the “Canary” South Korea’s exports unexpectedly fell in April. All these factors have caused foreign demand to be questioned. However, China’s export trade still achieved a large-than-expected increase in April, and imports have also steadily expanded.
Moreover, the working day in April is one day less than in March, and the actual increase is larger than the data shows.
Imports of bulk commodities improved, iron ore returned to positive growth year-on-year, and imported copper rings held steady, up 47% year-on-year, indicating that industrial production has returned to normal levels after seasonal factors subsided.
Imports of fruit and cereals expanded significantly, and soybean imports also stopped falling by 20% from the previous month's decline, and still fell year-on-year. However, the import volume of cars dropped, and the import volume of semiconductor products also decreased by 4%.
The dynamics of foreign trade are still the focus of attention, and it is not ruled out that companies can advance orders to avoid possible tax increases.
In April, the external influence of Sino-US trade tensions and seasonal factors on imports subsided. Vehicle imports decreased, soybean imports stopped falling, copper, crude oil and other bulk commodities recovered, iron ore import slowed down, and industrial domestic demand stabilized.
Soybean imports, which have been declining since the beginning of the year, stopped in April and fell 22% month-on-month, but still recorded a 14% year-on-year drop.
In April, import trade from Brazil recorded only a slight increase of 1.93% year-on-year, and the growth rate was also much lower than last year. From May to July is the peak period of South American soybeans to Hong Kong. Whether China will expand soybean imports from South America still needs further observation.
Imports of fruit and cereals increased significantly, imports of fresh and dried fruits and nuts rose by 30% year-on-year, and cereals also increased by 15% year-on-year.
With high value-added large aircraft, imports in April remained strong. Although it fell to 35 from 47 in March, it was still significantly higher than the previous level, with only 34 imports in January-February.
Full expansion of commodity exports
From a broad perspective, in April, exports of hi-tech products soared by 21% year-on-year. Electrical and mechanical products and agricultural products also achieved double-digit growth, and exports recovered, helping China's import and export trade return to surplus in April.
However, high-tech products fell slightly by 2% from the previous month.
The export of Steel & aluminum seems to be temporarily unaffected by tariffs. On a year-on-year basis, exports of steel products recorded only a slight decrease of 0.22%, while aluminum exports, despite a decline from the previous month, maintained a growth of 4.88% year-on-year.
Last month, the textiles with a sharp drop in exports, in the context of stabilization of the exchange rate in April, and the return of enterprises, swept away in March, dropping their shadows by 50% year-on-year and increasing by 7% year-on-year.
In April, auto exports rose 53% year-on-year, representing a significant increase in year-on-year sales of goods, and parts and accessories also grew by 11%.
