In the January-May period this year, the ferrous metal smelting and rolling sector in China recorded a gross profit of RMB 18.17 billion ($2.7 billion), down 37.4 percent year on year, as announced by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on June 27.
The automotive sector recorded a gross profit of RMB 143.95 billion ($21.1 billion) in the first five months, down 19.8 percent year on year.
At the same time, the ferrous metals mining and dressing sector, the metal manufacturing sector and the railway, shipping, aerospace and other transportation equipment manufacturing sector recorded gross profits of RMB 20.83 billion ($3.1 billion), RMB 49.6 billion ($7.3 billion) and RMB 54.92 billion ($8.1 billion) in the January-May period this year, up 15.9 percent, down 12.4 percent and up 5.2 percent year on year, respectively.
In the first four months this year, the ferrous metal smelting and rolling sector in China had recorded a gross profit of RMB 7.58 billion ($1.1 billion), compared to RMB 18.17 billion in the first five months, indicating an improvement in the operating performance of the steel industry. However, the ferrous metal smelting and rolling sector in China still saw a year-on-year decline of 37.4 percent in the first five months.
The slowdown in the year-on-year decline of the ferrous metal smelting and rolling sector in China in the first five months marked a certain improvement in demand for steel and in the operating performance of the steel industry in May. However, against the background of slackening demand for steel, especially in the real estate industry, the steel industry is adapting to the “new normal” of meager profits.
In the given period, the aggregate gross profit of large and medium-sized industrial enterprises in China amounted to RMB 3.14396 trillion ($0.46 trillion), up 18.8 percent year on year.
