BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- China's steel industry has reached supply-demand balance and is expected to remain in the state for the rest of the year, as it refreshed the best operating performance in record in the first three quarters, according to Zhang Zhixiang, president of China Chamber of Commerce for Metallurgical Enterprises.
The steel industry has reversed the situation of meager profits and even losses for many years. Data from China Iron and Steel Industry Association (CISA) showed that member steel companies achieved sales revenue of 3.06 trillion yuan (about 440 billion U.S. dollars) from January to September, increasing 14.47 percent year on year, and their profits reached 229.96 billion yuan (about 33.36 billion U.S. dollars), up 86.01 percent, already exceeding the total profits of 2017.
Despite the improving performance, China's steel industry is faced with increasing difficulty in maintaining the current profitability, said Liu Zhenjiang, secretary-general of the CISA.
According to Liu, although the steel industry reported best performance in September, profit margin in the month was lower than that of August due to increased spending in raw materials, financing, environmental protection, and operation.
Besides, the impulsion of expanding steel production capacity still exits. Daily output of crude steel averaged at 2.69 million tonnes in September, recording historical high of China's steel industry. Meanwhile, financial expenses hiked 12.5 percent on year in September resulted from increased financing cost.
(Edited by Li Wenxin, Yang Qi, liwenxin@xinhua.org)
A single purchase
