On May 30, Chinese steelmaker Wuhan Iron and Steel Co. (WISCO) announced that in 2012 its outputs of pig iron, crude steel and finished steel amounted to 35.35 million mt, 36.42 million mt and 37.12 million mt respectively. Meanwhile, WISCO's gross revenue in 2012 totaled RMB 213.8 billion ($34.88 billion), while it recorded a gross profit of RMB 1.7 billion ($277.3 million), down RMB 4.7 billion ($766.7 million) year on year.
WISCO also stated that in 2013 it plans to add another 2.29 million mt of steel product output capacity, mainly including auto steel sheet, heavy rail and silicon steel.
In addition, in January-April this year WISCO's gross revenues totaled RMB 68 billion ($11.09 billion) with a gross profit of RMB 627 million ($102.3 million), up 2.6 percent and 1.98 percent respectively, both year on year.
Furthermore, with WISCO's grain-oriented (HiB) silicon steel starting to replace imports of this product, the average import price of this material in China in 2012 decreased to $2,250/mt, reducing cost expenditure for China's transformer industry in 2012 by RMB 2.5 billion ($407.8 million) as compared to 2011.