SunSirs: China Imposes Export License Controls on Specific Steel Products

Recently, the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs announced a notice, based on the "Foreign Trade Law of the People's Republic of China," the "Regulations on the Import and Export of Goods of the People's Republic of China," the "Measures for the Administration of the Export License," and other laws, administrative regulations, and rules, to adjust the "List of Goods Subject to Export License Management (2025)" and include certain steel products in the list, effective from January 1, 2026.

According to the General Administration of Customs, in the first 11 months of 2025, China's steel exports reached 107.7 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 6.7%. Chen Yunzi, a researcher at the Smart Product R&D Department of Shanghai Steel Network, told the Securities Daily that this fully reflects the positive trend of China's steel industry deeply integrating into the global market and its position in the international supply chain is becoming increasingly important. This policy adjustment can better promote the transformation of steel exports from "scale expansion" to "value enhancement".

Chen Leiming, executive president and secretary general of the China Iron and Steel Distribution Association, told reporters from Security Daily that the inclusion of steel products in the export license management system covers the entire industry chain from raw materials to finished products, and has multiple positive implications for the long-term development of the industry. First, it helps curb the disorderly export of low-value-added products; second, it helps enterprises cope with international trade barriers; finally, export license management can also promote the green transformation of enterprises.

A research report from a securities firm believes that regulating the export order could optimize domestic production capacity and continue to push the industry's supply and demand back to balance.

Li DeRu, an analyst with the steel industry division of Zhongchuang Information, told the reporter of the Securities Daily that in the short term, the policy precisely restricts low-value-added products such as blooms, which directly hits the "price-volume" model, and it is expected that exports of low-value-added parts will decrease sharply after the implementation of the policy. For corporate exports, the added compliance cost and the relevant quality requirements prompt enterprises to shift to high-value-added products to maintain competitiveness, thus bringing certain pressure to producers and operators. In the long run, the policy will promote the steel industry to transform from scale expansion to high-quality development. It is foreseeable that in order to maintain competitiveness, enterprises will pay more attention to the development of high-value-added products and promote technological innovation.

Overall, by regulating the order of steel product exports or promoting the balance between domestic supply and demand, the steel industry is expected to welcome a stage of high-quality and high-yield development.

"Policy can better promote the industry to form a benign competitive atmosphere of 'winning by technology and quality', thus driving the upgrading and iteration of the industry and enterprises focusing on high-quality development. While consolidating the traditional market share, it also helps to promote the export of high-value-added products and enhance the competitiveness of the industry," said Chen Yunzhi.

Against this backdrop, Chen Leiming suggested that steel enterprises increase their R&D investment and develop high-end products such as high-performance bearing steel, gear steel, and high-temperature alloys. For example, some leading domestic companies have begun exporting "green steel" products, obtaining EPD environmental product declarations through full-process carbon verification, with a carbon reduction of 50% per ton of steel. This transformation is worth emulating.

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