China's steel exports are set to hit an all-time high this year, defying predictions that unprecedented trade barriers would drive down shipments, and threaten to provoke an even fiercer protectionist backlash against the world's dominant producer. Exports will grow 4% to 9% this year to hit between 115 million and 120 million metric tons, according to forecasts from 11 analysts, all of whom had forecast earlier this year that exports would fall.