Recruiting in China

Most of the steel companies listed on the A-share market have seen a sharp erosion in profits during the first six months of the year, due to the glut in domestic production.

Hongxing Co Ltd, a company whose main shareholder is Jiuquan Iron & Steel (Group) Co Ltd, was the worst-performing listed steel company as of Aug 19 with losses of 1.55 billion yuan ($242 million) in the first six months. Hongxing said the losses were mainly due to production overcapacity, a slowing economy and the significant fall in steel prices.

Beijing Shougang Co Ltd, another major producer, has forecast losses of about 200 million yuan to 300 million yuan for the first half of the year.

According to data provided by the National Development and Reform Commission, large and medium-sized steel companies earned revenue of about 1.5 trillion yuan in the first six months of the year, down 17.9 percent from the same period a year earlier. However, the steel-making business of these firms ran up losses of about 21.7 billion yuan during the period, up 16.8 billion yuan from the same period in 2014.

About 43 steel companies registered losses during the period, while only three reported growth in profits. Fushun Special Steel Shares Co Ltd saw its net profit surge to 131 million yuan, an 803 percent year-on-year growth.

Daye Special Steel Co Ltd reported net profit of 139 million yuan by the end of June this year, up 5.42 percent from the same period in 2014. According to the company, the domestic steel market is still bogged down by production overcapacity and the lack of new growth drivers. Daye attributed its profit growth to measures taken to reduce output costs.