Posted on 27 Aug 2026
China's steel industry registered a loss in July, after three consecutive months of profits exceeding CNY 10 billion ($1.48 billion), Kallanish notes.
July's losses reached around CNY 2.6 billion, with operating income declining by 2.4% month-on-month, faster than the 1% decrease in operating costs, according to National Bureau of Statistics' data.
Profits in major downstream industries also plummeted in the reporting month. The automotive industry, the transportation equipment manufacturing industry and the metal products industry saw profit declines of 59.4% m-o-m to CNY 20.89 billion, 32.7% to CNY 12.68 billion and 40.3% to CNY 15.31 billion, respectively.
Meanwhile, the ferrous mining industry achieved a profit of CNY 3.2 billion in July, down 32.6% m-o-m, while the domestic coal mining and washing industry's profits slipped 4% m-o-m to CNY 40.1 billion. Anze low-sulphur prime coking coal prices slipped 0.5% on-month in July while those for 20mm HRB400 in Shanghai fell 1.8%.
January-July steel industry profits slumped 51.2% year-on-year to CNY 29.09 billion while those in ferrous mining industry and coal mining and washing industry increased 2% to CNY 28.77 billion and 50.4% to CNY 250.85 billion, respectively.
Source:Kallanish
