Taigang Stainless Posts First-Half Profit as Construction Demand Increases
Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel Co., China’s biggest producer of the rust-proof metal, swung to a profit in the first half after demand recovered for building construction.
Net income was 810 million yuan ($119 million), or 0.14 yuan a share, compared with a net loss of 681 million yuan, or 0.12 yuan, a year earlier, the company said in a statement to the Shenzhen stock exchange today. Sales surged 50 percent to 43.4 billion yuan.
Taigang, which has capacity to make as many as 3 million tons of stainless steel a year, said it boosted production by 24 percent to 1.3 million tons in the first half. China’s stainless-steel production may rise 13 percent to 11 million metric tons this year, according to Beijing Antaike Information Development Co., a state-owned metals and mining research company based in the capital city.
Shanxi Taigang rose 0.7 percent to 5.78 yuan at the 3 p.m. close in Shenzhen trading, before the earnings statement. The stock has fallen 39 percent this year, after more than doubling in 2009.
China’s stainless-steel production may slow in the second half from the first six months as the government cracks down on property speculation, Wang Xiaoli, an analyst at Citic Futures Co., said in June, without providing specific figures.
“The steel market is turning complex and grim after a short rebound in the first half,” Taigang said today, without elaborating.
--Helen Yuan, Li Xiaowei. Editors: Lena Lee, Josh Fellman
To contact the Bloomberg News staff on this story: Helen Yuan in Shanghai at hyuan@bloomberg.net.
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