The total profit of China's iron and steel industry in January-August was 22.6 billion yuan (approximately US $ 3.2 billion), down 25% year-on-year (YoY) despite an 8% increase in revenues. , 9% year on year to 5.58 trillion yuan, the PRC Ministry of Industry and Information Technology reported on Oct.23.
The decline in profits in the Chinese steel industry accelerated in August compared with a 16.6% decline in January-May, while profitability in the Chinese steel industry averaged only 4.05% in January-August, down 1.8% percentage points per year.
Steel demand in China is expected to remain stable in 2019 and at least the first half of 2020, leading to steel mills achieving their average annualized profit.
Platts estimates China's steel production will grow 35 million tonnes per year in 2019 to 1.2 billion tonnes per year.
