The China Commodities Dump Continues – -Mill, Smelter And Refinery Exports Surge

There’s no let-up in the onslaught of commodities from China.
While the country’s total exports are slowing in dollar terms, shipments of steel, oil products and aluminum are reaching for new highs, according to trade data from the General Administration of Customs. That’s because mills, smelters and refiners are producing more than they need amid slowing domestic demand, and shipping the excess overseas.
The flood is compounding a worldwide surplus of commodities that’s driven returns from raw materials to the lowest since 1999, threatening producers from India to Pennsylvania and aggravating trade disputes. While companies such as India’s JSW Steel Ltd. decry cheap exports as unfair, China says the overcapacity is a global problem.
‘It puts global commodities producers in a bad situation as China struggles with excess supplies of base metals, steel and oil products,’ Kang Yoo Jin, a commodities analyst at NH Investment & Securities Co., said by phone from Seoul. ‘The surplus of commodities is becoming a real pain for China and to ease the glut, it’s increasing its shipments overseas.’

This post was published at David Stockmans Contra Corner on December 9, 2015.