Steel is the basic raw material for industry and one of China's important export categories. In order to optimize the layout of the steel industry, ensure the safety and stability of the domestic supply chain, and promote the high-quality development of the steel industry, in accordance with the Foreign Trade Law of the People's Republic of China, the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Import and Export of Goods, and other laws and regulations, on December 12, 2025, the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs jointly issued Announcement No. 79, deciding to implement export license management for some steel products from January 1, 2026, marking a new stage in China's steel export management. He Yadong, Deputy Director of the Policy Research Office of the Ministry of Commerce and concurrently the spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, told reporters that the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs jointly issued an announcement deciding to implement export license management for steel products, mainly involving 300 customs-coded products such as steel materials. The main purpose is to strengthen the monitoring and statistical analysis of steel product exports and track the quality of export products.

"It should be emphasized that relevant management follows the rules and requirements of the World Trade Organization, and does not involve restrictions on export quantity and enterprise business qualifications. At the same time, in accordance with the 'Product Quality Law of the People's Republic of China' and other laws and regulations, after extensively soliciting industry opinions, the announcement requires enterprises to provide product quality inspection certificates when applying for export licenses, thereby guiding enterprises to pay more attention to product quality, increase investment in research and development innovation, and promote the high-quality development of China's steel industry," said He Yadong.

It is reported that China has implemented export license management for some steel products since January 1, 2026, which is the re-implementation after 16 years since the abolition of the steel export license management system in 2009. Zhang Longqiang, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association, and Secretary of the Party Committee and President of the Metallurgical Industry Information Standard Research Institute, analyzed to reporters that in the short term, the export volume may increase in stages due to the rush to grab orders for export; in the medium term, due to some enterprises being unfamiliar with the certification process or lacking compliance capabilities, the export pace may slow down, and the total volume may decline in stages; in the long term, this will help create a fair export competition environment and guide the export scale back to a reasonable range. At the same time, the hard constraints of product quality inspection certificates will guide enterprises to enhance their compliance awareness and quality awareness, promote innovation investment and product research and development, help the high-quality development of the steel industry, and continuously improve the international influence of China's steel products.

China's steel exports face the problem of "increasing quantity but decreasing price"
As the world's largest producer, consumer, and exporter of steel, China's steel industry has deeply integrated into the global industrial system, playing both a stabilizing and growth-promoting role in the global industrial chain. It not only provides stable and reliable material support for global infrastructure construction and manufacturing upgrades, but also allows enterprises in the global steel industry chain to share the opportunities presented by China's massive market. On December 17, 2025, at the annual meeting of the Steel Market Working Committee of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association, Luo Tiejun, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Vice President of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association, pointed out that the current issue of "increasing volume but declining prices" in China's steel exports has triggered a large number of trade friction cases. "Long-term large-scale low-price exports are unsustainable. As these cases gradually take effect, they will affect the normal export environment and increase domestic supply and demand pressures," Luo Tiejun stated.

In fact, China's steel industry is facing unprecedented transformation pressure. In 2025, despite an increase in the total volume of steel exports, the total amount actually declined. According to statistics, from January to November 2025, China exported 108 million tons of steel, representing a year-on-year increase of 6.7%. It is expected that the export volume of steel in 2025 will reach a record high; the average export price of steel is US$696/ton, down 8.3% year-on-year. From January to October, China exported 11.9 million tons of steel billets, surpassing the historical high (9.04 million tons in 2008).

Due to the long and complex trade chain, steel production enterprises find it difficult to effectively track and control the final destination of their products, which is not conducive to the healthy and orderly development of the industry. The management of steel product exports involving licenses is conducive to the high-quality development of the steel industry. According to reports, from January to November 2025, China's cumulative export value of various steel products (including steel materials and primary steel products) amounted to $74.9 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 2.1%. At the same time, a large number of low-price exports have led to continuous trade frictions faced by the steel industry. "We must be soberly aware that long-term large-scale low-price exports are unsustainable. As the cases gradually take effect, they will affect the normal export environment and increase domestic supply and demand pressure," Luo Tiejun reminded.

Since 2022, with the changes in China's domestic supply and demand pattern, the steel industry has entered a new stage of development. Affected by this, China's steel product exports have exhibited many new characteristics, among which the issues of "increasing volume but decreasing prices" and the urgent need for orderly regulation have received widespread attention across the industry. On December 12, 2025, the China Iron and Steel Industry Association issued a statement arguing that while meeting overseas demand, China's steel products are also actively participating in the division of labor and cooperation in the international supply chain, which is of great significance for enhancing the internationalization level of China's steel industry. In 2026, China re-implemented the export license management for some steel products, which is both a practical need to respond to changes in the international trade environment and a strategic choice to promote the green and low-carbon transformation of the steel industry and optimize the export structure. Against the backdrop of "reducing development" becoming the industry norm, strengthening self-discipline and orderly exports has become a key force in stabilizing the market and improving efficiency.

The trade frictions concerning China's steel product exports are continuously escalating
Currently, in the face of trade barriers in traditional markets, China's steel exports are undergoing profound changes. "Regional structural shift + variety substitution" has become the core of coping strategies for steel enterprises. However, there are still issues such as low added value of products and high market concentration. At the same time, China's domestic supply and demand of steel have undergone phased adjustments and changes. It is necessary to strengthen export management in the steel industry. The purpose of implementing export license management is to strengthen the monitoring and statistical analysis of steel product exports, improve the industry's compliance awareness and quality awareness, help enterprises establish reasonable expectations, and cope with changes in economic cycles and international economic and trade situations, rather than simply controlling the total volume.

Zhang Longqiang analyzed that China's reintroduction of export license management for certain steel products after 16 years since 2009 will effectively regulate the export order, guide the optimization of product structure, and is of great significance for the high-quality development of the steel industry with reduced capacity during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period.

Firstly, the contradiction between supply and demand has continued to deepen. Since the implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan, domestic demand for steel in China has continued to decline, while supply remains abundant. The contradiction between supply and demand has continued to deepen, market competition has intensified, and this has to some extent driven an increase in steel product exports. As of November 2025, China's apparent consumption of crude steel has decreased by approximately 210 million tons, which is 2.2 times the reduction in crude steel production. The pattern of strong supply and weak demand will persist for a longer period of time, and steel prices will also show an L-shaped trend in the long run. Affected by this, some domestic enterprises in China have increased technological innovation to drive product quality improvement and upgrading. Some enterprises export at low prices to obtain cash flow to alleviate operational pressure, while others achieve low-value-added, primary steel products exports at low prices through improper means.

Secondly, steel exports have consistently reached new highs. Since 2021, China's steel exports have maintained rapid growth, doubling from 53.67 million tons in 2020 to 110.72 million tons in 2024. Billet exports have also seen a rapid increase, rising from tens of thousands of tons in the previous two years to 6.34 million tons in 2024. From January to November 2025, China's cumulative steel exports reached 107.72 million tons, up 6.7% year-on-year, with the global trade volume share increasing from 17% to 33%. Cumulative billet exports amounted to 13.39 million tons, up 1.4 times year-on-year, with the global trade volume share surging from less than 1% to 29%. In May and August 2021, the government twice cancelled the steel export tax rebate, but this did not significantly improve the export situation.

Thirdly, trade frictions have been escalating. In recent years, the global economic environment has been complex and volatile, with trade rules constantly changing. During the same period, China's steel product exports have seen significant growth, driven by factors such as cost and exchange rate, which have made China's steel export prices notably competitive. Against this backdrop, trade frictions targeting China's steel product exports have been escalating, with measures such as tariff barriers and market access restrictions significantly increasing. According to incomplete statistics, in 2024, there were a total of 34 anti-dumping, anti-subsidy, and safeguard measures initiated by foreign countries against China's steel industry, and in 2025, there have already been 30 such cases, with the coverage of regions and steel varieties further increasing.

The steel industry should play a leading role in foreign trade
China's inclusion of steel products in export license management is a significant measure aimed at guiding the standardized export of steel products and further promoting the high-quality development of the steel industry. This is conducive to maintaining the global steel supply and demand pattern and trade balance, and demonstrates China's image as a responsible major country. The main reasons are as follows: First, continuously improving the export management of steel products is a crucial move in China's process of accelerating the construction of a new development paradigm, which aims to continuously unblock the domestic circulation and ensure that steel products prioritize meeting domestic demand. Second, continuously improving the export management of steel products is a necessary measure for China to guide industrial upgrading domestically and participate in international supply chain cooperation in the context of globalization. "As the foundation of the national economy and the pillar of the industrialization process, the steel industry should play a leading role in foreign trade," believes the China Iron and Steel Industry Association.

Third, it will facilitate the transformation of the development mode of China's steel industry. Regulating the export order of steel products will help coordinate trade flows, integrate trade channels, promote positive interaction between the international and domestic markets, and ultimately achieve the transformation and upgrading of the steel industry. Fourth, it will strengthen brand building and quality management. By incorporating product quality certificates into the scope of export license application materials, it will help steel products with higher quality, better cost-effectiveness, and the ability to provide better services to participate in international competition, benefiting the global supply chain while establishing a good image for China's steel industry.

Luo Tiejun stated that before the new mechanism for steel production capacity governance is perfected, self-discipline and voluntary production control are important choices for promoting high-quality development in the industry. On the one hand, we should prioritize variety benefits, accelerate structural transformation, and avoid overcapacity and disorderly competition in certain varieties. On the other hand, we should strengthen collaborative self-discipline, adapt to local conditions, explore the establishment of long-term, market-oriented coordination mechanisms, promote the stable operation of the domestic market, and ensure orderly exports. Zhang Longqiang suggested: Firstly, at the government level, relevant departments should strengthen data sharing and policy coordination, form a policy synergy, increase the intensity of information monitoring and analysis of export data and product quality, precisely regulate export product management policies, crack down on illegal and irregular behaviors such as "pay-to-export", ensure the fairness of export trade, and achieve coordinated optimization of steel export scale and quality.

Secondly, at the industry level, we should guide the formation of a steel export model that "encourages high-end products, restricts low-end products, and combats illegal activities". We should optimize the structure of export products, increase R&D investment in high-end products, reduce dependence on the export of low value-added products, expand the export proportion of high value-added products, jointly promote high-quality development of the industry, and enhance the ability to face international trade challenges. Thirdly, at the enterprise level, we should quickly familiarize ourselves with export rules and requirements, clarify policy orientation and boundaries, adapt to new policy changes, adhere to the principle of legal and compliant exports, actively improve the internal product quality inspection system, and establish a sound export management system. At the same time, we should hone our basic skills, enhance our hard power, accelerate technological innovation, promote the optimization and upgrading of product structure, further increase the proportion of high-end products, and comprehensively improve the core competitiveness of products.