Jiangyin port imported 841,000 tonnes of steel in the first quarter of 2009, an increase of more than eight fold over the same period last year, according to the city’s Customs office. The volume of steel billet increased 318 per cent to 495,000 tonnes, while imported scrap rose from almost nothing to 170,000 tonnes.

Jiangyin is becoming an important steel billet distribution centre situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Most of the demand for steel billet, according to Jiangyin Daily, comes from foreign trade companies based in Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Beijing.