Hebei province-based Chinese major steelmaker HBIS Company Limited (HBIS) announced that it has registered an operating revenue of RMB 62.39 billion ($8.84 billion) in the first half of the year, up 11.07 percent year on year, while posting a net profit of RMB 1.168 billion ($0.17 billion) in the given period, down 35.87 percent year on year.
In the January-June period of the year, HBIS produced 14.10 million mt of pig iron, 14.03 million mt of crude steel and 13.26 million mt of finished steel, up 18.21 percent, 14.86 percent and 13.44 percent year on year.
In the given period, HBIS’ operating cost amounted to RMB 55.41 billion ($7.85 billion), up 15.2 percent year on year due to high raw material prices, higher than the growth in operating revenue, dragging down the company’s profitability.
Although the company’s main production bases are in the area where production restriction were implemented, the loosening of the production curb in the first half of the year contributed to the growth in finished steel output. However, the weak situation in steel industry, increased supply amid higher cost of raw materials in the given period, resulted in RMB 100/mt ($14.2/mt) of net profit per metric ton of steel produced by HBIS, down 44 percent year on year.
Moreover, the company estimated that the production restriction against heavy pollution and heating season will likely exert a negative impact on its output in the second half of the year.