Angang considers increasing exports
Chinese steelmaker
Angang Steel plans to increase its exports fourfold due to the higher prices and stronger demand overseas.
The company expects to increase exports to 700'000-800'000 tons in 2004 from 200'000 tons recorded last year. A company official stated that global demand for steel is very strong and export prices are 15% higher than domestic prices.
Angang shipped 322'900 tons of steel to overseas in the first six months of this year with an increase of 265.2% from a year earlier. Total steel
production in the mentioned period was about 2.58 million tons, revealing a rise of approximately 23% compared to the same period of last year.
Company's first half sales soared by 42.4% to Yuan 9.9 billion ($1.1 billion) while net profit was registered as Yuan 716 million with an increase of 15.3%.
The growth in figures is attributed to the 20% rise in the average selling price and strong sales growth.