Baosteel's net profit down 55%

China's largest steelmaker Shanghai based Baoshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd (Baosteel) announced 55 percent year on year decrease in the profits for the first quarter. Baosteel's profits for to first quarter fell to RMB 1.37 billion ($171 million), which also marks the lowest quarterly profit in the last 14 quarters. However, the company stated that its turnover increased 82.6 percent year on year to RMB 32.5 billion ($4.06 billion) in the same period. Baosteel blamed weak domestic steel prices in China for the decline in profits, and said their average selling price dropped from RMB 5,146/mt ($642) in the first quarter of 2005 to RMB 4,465/mt ($557) this year. The company is expecting to perform better in the second quarter with an increase in domestic prices.