Chinese steelmaker pays for US tariffs

Manufacturing News, Source : TheManufacturer.com
Published : 29 Apr 2002 9:25

China's biggest steelmaker has seen its profits dive as it faces what analysts believe will be a flood of foreign steel into its domestic market.

Following the US introduction of tariffs on steel imports in an attempt to protect its own industry, observers have predicted that exporting countries will look to China's huge and booming economy as an alternative market.

Baoshan Iron & Steel's admission that net profits for the first three months of the year were 39.5 per cent lower than last year therefore comes at a bad time.

The losses at Baosteel, as it is known, follow a 14.4 per cent fall in profits for 2001 as a whole from the previous year.

A statement released by the steelmaker said: "In the first quarter of 2002, the domestic and international steel markets were sluggish and the prices of our core products such as cold-rolled and hot-rolled steel plates fell 11% year on year."

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