Steel Sector Reports Better Economic ReturnsChina's 100 key steel companies registered a combined profit of 2.34 billion yuan (282 million U.S. dollars) in the first four months this year, 7.3 times more than the same period last year.Latest figures from the State Administration of Metallurgical Industry said that steel output hit 50.75 million tons from January to May, up 3.5 percent. But the increase rate was 3.2 percentage points lower than the same period of 1999. Exports of steel and steel products increased by 1.86 million tons to reach 3.1 million tons in the first four months. The positive change shows that the sector's efforts to reduce output and restructure itself have begun to take effect, industry observers commented. The administration plans to shut down 103 small iron and steel plants by the end of this year. The name list for the first 50 plants has been decided. An official said that the price hike of steel products in previous months has stabilized. |
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