Dai Zhihao, general manager of Baoshan Iron and Steel Co. (Baosteel) and senior official at the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), has stated in an online briefing that the Chinese steel industry is expected to go through a difficult period in the long term and to record losses or low profitability if the industry does not see increased consolidation. He remarked that the Chinese steel industry has entered a period of low production growth and slow consumption.
As stated during the briefing, large and medium-sized steelmakers in China - all CISA members - registered an aggregate gross loss of RMB 3.35 billion in the first quarter of the current year, with a net loss of RMB 7.53 billion, up by RMB 2.09 billion compared to the same period last year. The Chinese steel industry had recorded a gross profit of RMB 30.4 billion ($4.9 billion) in the first quarter of 2014.