Posted on 29 Aug 2024
Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. (Baosteel), the listed arm of the world's largest steelmaker China Baowu Steel Group (Baowu), saw its net profits for the first half of this year inch down by 0.17% on year to Yuan 4.55 billion ($637.49 million), according to the company's latest interim report released on August 27.
In H1, the steel giant's business revenues declined by 3.89% on year to reach Yuan 163.25 billion. Despite the on-year fall, Baosteel still ranked top in revenues among the 17 Chinese steelmakers that had released their semi-annual reports by August 28, according to Mysteel's tracking.
So far this year, China's steel sector has been weighed down by strong supply, weak demand, high costs and low prices, Baosteel noted in its report.
In the first six months, Baosteel produced a total of 24.12 million tonnes of hot metal and 26.31 million tonnes of crude steel, while its sales volume of semi-finished and finished steel products totalled 25.51 million tonnes. Meanwhile, the company's steel export volume rose by 1.51% on year to hit a record high of 3.04 million tonnes in H1, the report showed.
Steel demand from China's shipbuilding, new energy and other sectors became the main driver supporting the company's business performance, it said.
Meanwhile, Baosteel achieved cost savings of Yuan 4.55 billion in the first half, providing strong support for the company's operating performance, it declared.
Looking ahead, during the current half of this year oversupply will remain the dominant feature of China's steel industry and will continue to weigh on steelmakers' operations, Baosteel observed.
Besides, increasing tariff barriers and the rising tide of trade protectionism worldwide will bring more uncertainties to its steel exports in H2, it added.
Earlier in mid-August, parent company Baowu had warned that serious crises lie ahead for China's steel industry now, saying the sector might face a "harsh winter that is longer, colder and more difficult to endure than we expected."
Baosteel has four major steelmaking bases nationwide comprising the Baoshan works in Shanghai, its Qingshan works in Wuhan in Central China's Hubei province, the Dongshan works in Zhanjiang in South China's Guangdong province and the Meishan works in Nanjing in East China's Jiangsu province, as Mysteel Global has reported.
Source:Mysteel Global
