Xinjiang Autonomous Region-based Chinese steelmaker Bayi Iron and Steel Group (Bayi Steel) has announced that in the first nine months of the year it achieved an operating revenue of RMB 15.491 billion ($2.2 billion), up 0.74 percent, and a net profit of RMB 240 million ($33.9 million), down 58.4 percent, both year on year.
Bayi Steel stated that the demand in Chinese domestic steel market has entered into offseason since November of 2018, resulting in its net loss in the first quarter of the year due to significant drop in steel prices and difficulty in products sales.
In the second quarter, its performance has improved as it raised its capacity utilization rate.
However, in the January-September period of the year, due to rises in raw materials and declines in finished steel prices, Bayi Steel’s net profit has decreased.