According to the Q1 reports of the 32 listed Chinese steel companies, half of them suffered a total loss of RMB 4.56 billion ($670 million) during the first quarter this year.
In the first three months of 2009, the 32 listed Chinese steel companies registered a total turnover of RMB 200.32 billion ($29.37 billion), down 27.1 percent year on year, with the gross margin of only 2 percent. Meanwhile, steel board posted an overall loss of RMB 4.56 billion ($670 million), a slump of 129.7 percent compared with the profit of RMB 15.35 billion ($2.25 billion) for Q1 2008.