Metallurgical Industrial Profits UpChina's metallurgical industry achieved a profit of 5.43 billion yuan in the first half of this year, 4.2 billion yuan more than in the same period of last year. Officials at the State Administration of the Metallurgical Industry attributed the increase to the pick-up of domestic steel prices.Statistics show that the combined industrial output value of the country's key iron and steel companies reached 104.7 billion yuan in the six-month period, up 11.4 percent on a yearly basis. Their sales income reached 155.8 billion yuan, up 18.9 percent. From January to June, 15 more iron and steel giants started to yield profits; at present, only 24.7 percent of the country's key metallurgical enterprises remain loss-making. China exported 5.66 million tons of steel and steel products in the period, tripling the figure for the same 1999 period. A total of 15 iron and steel enterprises reported exports of more than 100, 000 tons of products each. And the country imported 8.61 million tons of steel and steel products in the first half of this year, down 1.03 percent. |
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