Luo Bingsheng, vice chairman of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), has stated in Beijing that it is expected that Chinese steelmakers' aggregate profits in November and December this year will be about the same as in September and October, adding that total profits of medium and large steelmakers in China in 2010 will reach RMB 80 billion ($12 billion).
Some insiders had previously said that Chinese steelmakers' profits in Q4 2010 would be very high, predicting that the aggregate profit of the 77 medium and large steelmakers which are members of the CISA would reach RMB 100 billion for the whole of 2010.
Mr. Luo commented, "Although steel prices have increased, demand is not getting better, and so in the last two months of 2010 the industry can only maintain a neutral trend."
According to data from the CISA, the aggregate monthly profit of the 77 medium and large steelmakers which are CISA members increased consistently on a month-on-month basis in the months of July, August, September and October, totaling RMB 2.8 billion ($0.42 billion), RMB 3.8 billion ($0.57 billion), RMB 5.8 billion ($0.87billion) and RMB 7 billion ($1.05 billion) respectively. For the January- September period, the aggregate profit figure came to RMB 64 billion ($9.6 billion), up 98.05 percent year on year.