According to the Department of Finance of China’s Shandong Province, in the first 10 months of this year the total operating revenue of 218 steelmakers in the province amounted to RMB 356.7 billion ($57.3 billion), down 3.8 percent year on year.
In the January-October period, 37.7 percent of the steelmakers in question posted net losses, up 10 percentage points on year-on-year basis. In October, the 218 steelmakers recorded an increase of RMB 600 million ($96.3 million) in their aggregate net loss compared to September.
The Shandong Provincial Department of Finance stated that the steel sector in Shandong still faces many difficulties in the short term due to oversupply, lower prices of finished steel, fluctuations in iron ore prices and weak market demand.