China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼), the nation’s biggest steelmaker, yesterday said pretax profit surged 53 percent annually in the first seven months of this year, as improving economic growth boosted demand and steel prices.
Pretax profit jumped to NT$17.06 billion (US$554.4 million) during the period, compared with NT$11.12 billion a year earlier, hitting the highest level in six years, the company said in a statement.
Operating income soared 39 percent to NT$17.99 billion from NT$12.97 billion a year earlier, the company said.
Revenue climbed at a slower rate of 17 percent to NT$228.73 billion, compared with NT$196.33 billion a year earlier, it said.
The Kaohsiung-based firm has raised its prices 7.6 percent in the first three quarters for domestic deliveries due to infrastructure construction and property development projects.
The company last week raised its prices 1.4 percent for local deliveries next quarter, as the domestic market caught up with the industry’s upturn.
Global supply is under constraint amid exuberant demand worldwide, the steelmaker said last week.
The company shipped 6.45 million tonnes of steel products to local clients in the first seven months, up 2.87 percent from 6.27 million tonnes in the same period last year.
Local clients accounted for 70 percent of the company’s total shipments, it said.
The company’s steelmaking subsidiaries also saw robust growth in shipments.
Dragon Steel Corp (中龍鋼鐵) and Chung Hung Steel Corp (中鴻鋼鐵) shipped 3.27 million tonnes and 1.47 million tonnes over the period respectively, while China Steel’s new venture in Vietnam shipped 550,000 tonnes, the Central News Agency reported yesterday.
