Steel Mills October Profits Top Seven Billion Yuan

China's 77 major steelmakers reported a combined profit of over seven billion yuan in October, representing the highest level since July this year. It is estimated that their total profits would amount to approximately 100 billion yuan by the end of this year.

They will see considerable improvements in their productivity in the fourth quarter due to healthful changes in the supply and demand situation and a lower quarterly price of iron ore.

Crude steel output rose in October from the previous month, but remained at the second lowest level this year. In the first ten months, China imported 503 million tons of iron ore, the first fall since 2005, with import values jumping by 54 percent.

Experts have suggested China increase its iron ore self-sufficiency ratio to 50 percent by boosting supplies from domestic sources from one billion tons to 1.3 billion tons per year.