The latest customs data tells a clear story.

The latest customs data tells a clear story.

Tsingshan Indonesia’s 300-series exports to Taiwan fell back to 77,238 tons in October down 27.8% MoM. That September spike wasn’t a recovery. It was short-term restocking, nothing more.

The strongest signal comes from black coils:

Imports collapsed by 50% in October.

This isn’t a market crash it’s downstream buyers saying,

“We’ve replenished. Now we wait.”

White coils dipped only slightly, and slabs stayed flat, showing that baseline demand still exists just without urgency, without chasing, without over-committing.

The real driver behind the fluctuation is pricing.

Tsingshan pushed prices higher from July to September, forcing buyers to lock in early to avoid further increases. That’s why September looked so strong.

But once nickel pig iron softened, Tsingshan had no choice but to cut prices again — nearly USD 50/ton between October and November.

In short: this is not demand volatility; it’s a shift in buyer psychology.

And for Tsingshan, Taiwan is no longer the anchor market.

Exports to Vietnam are up 15%, Malaysia up 103%, and overall exports still grew 7% YoY. The market is unstable, but their multi-country allocation keeps the system steady.