|
CHINA> National
![]() |
|
Steel sector poised for rebound after Q4 losses
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-05 19:54 BEIJING -- China's steel sector might have lost up to 49.6 billion yuan (about US$7.3 billion) in the fourth quarter as prices plunged and inventory built up, an industry association said.
An official of the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA), speaking on condition of anonymity, said that out of 71 large and medium-sized steel producers the group monitored, 62 percent had losses that totaled 29.1 billion yuan in December.
"The weak performance was due to sagging demand [because of] the global economic crisis, which resulted in inventory build-ups, " said Hu Yanping, an analyst with the Beijing-based Umetal, a steel information consulting company. Angang Steel Co. Ltd., one of the country's top three steel producers, said in late January that its unaudited losses reached 4.83 billion yuan in December. It attributed the loss to steep prices falls and slow inventory movement starting in the second half of last year. But there are signs of returning confidence in the steel sector, with prices rising since November, according to Umetal. Construction steel prices reached 3,850 yuan per ton in Beijing as of Wednesday, up almost 200 yuan from two weeks earlier, Hu said. Production has held steady, with total output of about 40 million tonnes in January, the same as a year earlier, CISA said. It said that showed a recovery of confidence in the sector. |
德惠市| 青冈县| 宿州市| 德令哈市| 南宫市| 河间市| 江达县| 蓝田县| 富锦市| 长丰县| 育儿| 涡阳县| 玉溪市| 延川县| 建湖县| 蓬溪县| 吴堡县| 斗六市| 浙江省| 罗源县| 永嘉县| 芜湖县| 镇赉县| 时尚| 思南县| 六盘水市| 射洪县| 九江县| 汤原县| 台湾省| 贵港市| 伊春市| 资中县| 嘉兴市| 伊金霍洛旗| 离岛区| 德兴市| 武城县| 无为县| 图们市| 乐陵市|