As announced by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), in the first five months of the current year the aggregate net profit of the 80 large and medium-sized steel enterprises in China which are members of the CISA amounted to RMB 42.8 billion ($6.59 billion), decreasing by two percent compared to the same period of last year.
Due to the increase in iron ore and fuel costs, the production costs of the given enterprises rose by 20 percent year on year, according to the CISA. In the January-May period, the average profit margin of these enterprises was just 2.91 percent, down 0.67 percent year on year.