SteelOrbis Shangai
As disclosed by China Iron & Steel Association, China's 71 large and medium steel mills registered an overall loss of RMB 29.1 billion($4.2 billion ) in December 2008, up 129 percent month on month. Of the mills in question, 44 were in the red, with a total loss of RMB 30.5 billion($4.4 billion), up 118 percent month on month, which is mainly resulted from the devaluation of mills' inventories. Nevertheless, it seems that the market is recovering the confidence gradually.
In October 2008, China's steel industry suffered its first loss, totaling RMB 5.8 billion ($852 million), in the past six years, and then in November this number increased to RMB 12.7 billion($1.8 billion). The losses for the whole industry in the Q4 came to RMB 47.6 billion($7 billion). In year 2008, the Chinese steel mills still earned a gross profit of RMB 85 billion($12.5 billion) , down 41 percent compared with RMB 144.7 billion ($21.2 billion) of the previous year.