SteelOrbis Shanghai
According to the H1 2008 report of Inner Mongolia-based Baotou Iron and Steel Co., Ltd, during the period in question the company produced 4.5807 million metric tons of basic pig iron, 4.6635 million metric tons of crude steel and 4.4494 million metric tons of billets (for sale) and finished steel products. During this period, Baotou Steel achieved a sales revenue of RMB 19.563 billion ($2.86 billion), an increase of 113.53 percent year on year; and posted a net profit of RMB 1.105 billion ($162 million), up 143.58 percent on the same period of last year; while the total value of export contracts reached $385 million, rising by 36 percent year on year.
In the first half of the current year, the production of the main products such as hot metal, semi-finished, hot rolled and cold rolled sheet, galvanized sheet, seamless pipe, heavy rail steel and wire and rod maintained steady growth at high levels, while sales of wide plate climbed up steadily. In spite of the sharp rise in the prices of raw materials such as coke and iron ore which pushed up the company's production costs, Baotou Steel upgraded its products structure, improved its technology and strengthened internal management in order to reduce operation costs and increase its output of high value-added products.