Steel industry in China earned a combined profit of RMB 155 billion in the first half of this year, 22% more than in the same period of last year, according to statistics released by the National Development and Reform Commission.
The profit of the ferrous metal mining and dressing industry surged 61.7% year on year to RMB 44.3 billion, and that of the ferrous metal smelting and pressing sector rose 6.9% year on year to RMB 80.5 billion.
The commission said that China''s crude steel output increased 15.5% year on year to 59.3 million metric tons in July, and the growth rate was 13.3 percentage points higher than that in the same month of 2010.
In the first seven months, China, the largest steel maker in the world, saw its output of crude steel rise 10.3% year on year to 410.36 million metric tons. The growth rate was 7.9 percentage points lower than that in the same period of last year.
The country''s output of steel products rose 13% year on year to 514.01 million metric tons in the first seven months, slowing from a 24.1% increase in the corresponding period of last year.
During the period from January to July, China exported 28.77 million metric tons of steel products, up 2.3% year on year, and imported 9.27 million metric tons of steel products, down 5.7% year on year.
The country saw its output of coke increase 12.8% year on year to 247.56 million metric tons during the period, but the growth rate was 4.8 percentage points lower than that in the corresponding period of last year. The country''s coke exports surged 32.5% year on year to 2.63 million metric tons during the period. China''s output of ferrous alloys jumped 21.9% year on year to 16.41 million metric tons during the period.
In the month of July, China''s steel prices experienced slight drops, with the average steel price index sliding 1.1 points to 134.1. The prices of 20-mm steel sheets and 1-mm cold-rolled coils were RMB 4,905 per metric ton and RMB 5,466 per metric ton in July, down 1.5% and 1% month on month, but up 17.1% and 7.4% year on year, respectively