Shandong Province-based Chinese steelmaker Shandong Iron and Steel Co., Ltd (Shandong Steel) has issued its financial report for the first half of the current year, announcing an operating revenue of RMB 32.355 billion ($4.6 billion) for the given period, up 30.06 percent year on year, 24.19 percentage points higher than the growth rate recorded in the first half of 2018, while posting a net profit of RMB 577.0 million ($81.8 million), down 65.58 percent year on year, shifting from a rise of 181.74 percent in the same period of 2018.
In the first half of the year, Shandong Steel produced 5.43 million mt, 6.26 million mt and 5.72 million mt of pig iron, crude steel and finished steel, respectively, up 16.03 percent, 24.86 percent and 19.53 percent year on year.
The company stated that slack demand for finished steel and oversupply in the steel industry in the given period negatively affected its performance. Meanwhile, rapid rises in prices of raw materials, including iron ore and coking coal, in the first half of the year contributed to the rises in the company’s operating costs and dragged down its profitability.