Xinhua reported that Chinese steel plants reported shrinking profits in the first seven months of this year as rising raw material prices hit. Member enterprises of the China Iron and Steel Association raked in about USD 339 billion in sales revenue during this period, up 9.75%, while profits fell by 23.93% YoY to stand at CNY 123.582 billion. CISA attributed the dropping profits to rising raw materials prices. Purchase costs of domestic iron ores rose 19.88% YoY during this period, while that for imports climbed 29.13%.
Industrial giant Baoshan Iron & Steel saw its net profit down over 38% YoY in the first half of this year.
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