Briefly

Steel mills see profits drop in first 8 months

Major steel companies in China saw their profitability drop during the first eight months of this year, according to latest data. During the January-August period, profits of the country's major steel mills reached 109.64 billion yuan ($16.1 billion), down by 18.6 percent on a yearly basis, narrowing 10 percentage points from the first seven months, according to data from the China Iron and Steel Association. Sales revenue of the enterprises grew by 5.8 percent on a yearly basis to 2.9 trillion yuan, according to the data. Steel exports fell during the period, down by 18.6 percent year-on-year to 36.56 million metric tons. Imports jumped by 59.6 percent to 12.19 million tons.

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