Global News Of Note: Chinese Growth, Steel Imports Lag While Aluminum Imports Rise
What happens abroad impacts MSCI members in North America. Here is the latest economic, trade, and other policy news of note for the last week:
- According to S&P Global Platts, China’s semi-finished steel imports fell 24.5 percent from December 2020 to December 2021 and finished steel imports dropped 29.5 percent. Total steel imports were down 27.1 percent.
- Reuters reported China’s unwrought aluminum imports totaled 3.2 million tons in December, a new record high and up from 2.7 million tons in 2020. December imports were down 39 percent from November 2021 down 8.2 percent from December 2020.
- Finally, China’s economy expanded by just four percent in the fourth quarter of 2021, the slowest pace since the start of the COVID-19 recovery. Overall growth for 2021 was 8.1 percent. Read more here.