Baoshan Iron and Steel Co Ltd (Baosteel), a major Chinese steelmaker, on Thursday reported revenue of 148.53 billion yuan ($21.76 billion) and a net profit of 5.816 billion yuan in 2009, down 25.97 percent and 9.95 percent respectively year-on-year.
According to its annual report, in the first half of 2009, the State-owned company turned out a net profit of 669 million yuan, only 11.5 percent of its whole year profit. The market boom in the auto and home appliance sectors contributed significantly to the profit growth in the second half, said analysts.
Baosteel was the nation's largest rolled-steel sheeting provider to the auto and electrical-appliance sectors, holding 50.1 percent and 37.3 percent respectively of domestic market share in each, said Zhang Lei, an analyst with TX Investment Consulting Co Ltd.
"Demand for the two products remains robust. In addition, their downstream clients were not too sensitive towards price increases. As a result, Baosteel has been able to weather the surge in raw material prices such as iron ore and coking coal," Zhang added.
Traditionally, iron ore is traded at a new price on Thursday, after the annual negotiations between iron-ore sellers and buyers. However, Baosteel, representative for China's steel industry in long-term price negotiations, has not reached a deal with the three key iron-ore suppliers Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Vale.
Japanese and South Korean steelmakers have already accepted a sizable price hike for ore and concluded a quarterly-pricing system with BHP Billiton and Vale, an unusual concession to the suppliers.
Officials from China's steel industry strongly opposed the results. Luo Bingzheng, vice-chairman of China Iron and Steel Association, said on Tuesday in Beijing that Chinese steelmakers have not accepted the pricing system. Jia Yinsong, an official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology insisted China would not accept short-term iron ore pricing.
