Large steel makers of China set conservative output targets for 2009

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

31 Dec 2008

At least six Chinese large and midsize steel companies have released their operating targets for 2009 by Tuesday, with most looking forward unchanged output or a moderate rise over 2008. Jiangsu Shagang Group, the top private steel plant in China, plans to produce 23 million tons of steel, and achieve sales income of 120 billion yuan and pretax profit of 8.8 billion yuan in 2009.
Such forecast is conservative compared with its performance in 2008.
The company produced 21.37 million tons of steel in the first 11 months of 2008. Its sales income and pretax profit are predicted to surpass 140 billion yuan and 15 billion yuan, respectively, for the whole year of 2008.
The state-owned Maanshan Steel Co. set the 2009 focus on product quality and internal management instead of production expansion. It aims to produce 15 million tons of steel, 14.18 million tons of steel products for the coming year, compared to the expected 15 million tons of steel, and 14 million tons of steel products in 2008.
Hebei Iron & Steel Group made a bigger step to adjust up production goal by 24-30 percent over 2008.
The company plans to produce 38 million tons of pig iron, 41 million tons of crude steel, and 39.1 million tons of steel products, while its 2008 output of pig iron, crude steel, and steel products is projected to reach 30.1 million, 33 million, and 30 million tons, respectively.
The company's reshuffle in the middle of 2008 and newly installed equipment have helped raise its production capacity.
According to Qi Xiangdong, vice secretary general of China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), China's steel industry will shift its development theme from production expansion to structural adjustment in the future.
China's steel output still holds firm for 2009 compared to global output. A report by Credit Suisse predicted the global steel output to decrease by at least 10 percent in 2009. China's crude steel output is expected to fall 4.5 percent to about 470 million tons in 2009.

Source: China Mining