According to the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), in January this year the total production value of the seventy-seven large and medium-sized steel companies in China which are members of the CISA amounted to RMB 246.691 billion ($39.157 billion), down 4.57 percent year on year.
The sales revenue of the companies in question totaled RMB 260.353 billion ($41.325 billion) in January, declining 8.47 percent compared to January 2011. In the first two months of 2012, a total of 29 of the aforementioned 77 steel companies incurred an aggregate net loss of RMB 2.177 billion ($345.556 million), with the average profit margin decreasing to minus 0.89 percent.
The CISA also indicated that in mid-February (Feb. 11-20) the average daily output of crude steel in China came to 1.699 million mt, compared to the historical peak level of 1.945 million mt registered in mid-March 2011.