According to the data released by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), in July the overall profit of the Chinese steel industry came to RMB 4.43 billion ($662 million), registering a year-on-year decrease of 66.5 percent and down 58.4 percent compared to June. July was the fourth consecutive month in which a month-on-month decrease was recorded.
Apart from seasonal factors, the MIIT said that the reduced profits in July were mainly due to the price downtrend which lasted for 12 consecutive weeks from mid-April, as well as being due to the high levels of iron ore costs.