China’s steel industry has taken a major downturn, with many enterprises expecting losses in the first half of this year.
The 13 companies who expects profits to sink into the red control 70 percent of the market. They expect cumulative losses of 9.5 billion yuan (about US$ 1.3 billion). Another six steel enterprises are looking forward to reduced profits.
Maanshan Iron & Steel is expected to suffer the most, with an estimated loss of 2.2 billion yuan. Other industry giants like Ansteel Group and Shanxi Taigang Stainless are also heading into the red zone, in Ansteel's case by more than a billion yuan.
The manifold reasons for the performance include include weak demand, falling steel prices and rising raw material costs.
