Chinese steelmaker Maanshan Iron and Steel posted a sharp increase in profit for the July-September quarter but still saw a loss for the first nine months of the year. The company was able to increase profitability in the third quarter because of a sharp fall in raw material prices, especially iron ore.
Maanshan posted a profit of 404mn yuan ($66mn) for July-September compared with Yn3.4mn for the same period last year. Its losses for the January-September period narrowed slightly to Yn326mn from Yn329mn a year earlier.
Maanshan and its subsidiaries produced 4.75mn t of pig iron during July-September that was flat against a year earlier, while crude steel production rose by 1.43pc to 4.97mn t.
The company has achieved a profit every month since July, but losses in the first half of the year continued to weigh on on its performance overall. But it said it could still end the year with a profit, as long as there was no adverse turnaround in the steel market during October-December.
Analysts are not as hopeful about a recovery in China's domestic steel prices in the fourth quarter, with the winter months usually a weak period for construction activity.
pb/rjd
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