China’s iron and steel sector reported a 1.9-fold YoY increase in profits during the first three quarters, signaling an improvement from last year, Jiang Wei, vice-chairman and secretary-general of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), said.
Despite the profit boost, the industry faces continued pressure to balance supply and demand. Jiang urged steelmakers to exercise greater self-discipline in the fourth quarter by curbing production and reducing inventories to prevent disorderly price competition.
In the first nine months, major steel companies recorded operating revenue of 4.56 trillion yuan (USD 640 bln), down 2.36pct YoY, while operating costs fell 3.88pct to 4.26 trillion yuan (USD 598 bln), creating a 1.52-pctage-point advantage. Total profits reached 96 bln yuan (USD 13.4 bln), nearly double the previous year, with an average sales profit margin of 2.10pct, up 1.39 percentage points.
Steel output and consumption continued to decline. China produced 746 mln tons of crude steel, down 2.9pct YoY, while apparent consumption fell 5.7pct to 649 mln tons, marking the fifth consecutive annual decline. Consumption is decreasing faster than production, indicating ongoing market contraction.
On environmental performance, major steelmakers achieved a 0.54pct reduction in total energy use, 0.6pct lower energy consumption per ton, and a 5.88pct drop in wastewater discharge.
Jiang Xiaodong, deputy secretary-general of CISA, emphasized maintaining market stability through self-discipline, industry oversight, association coordination, and government regulation. CISA is working with authorities to implement a steel price supervision mechanism, including price monitoring, behavioral oversight, and benchmark cost indices by region and product category, aiming to curb unfair price competition and improve efficiency.
1 USD / 7.12 yuan
