Bayi Steel benefits from investment boom in Xinjiang

Demand for steel and cement has soared in Xinjiang as a raft of post-quake projects there supported by 19 other provinces and cities across China are kicking off. Baosteel Bayi Steel was providing 96 percent of steel or more required by key projects in Xinjiang last year. In the first four months of this year, the mill produced 700,000 tons of hot rolled steel, up 50 percent from a year earlier, with its utilization rate increasing from 72 percent to 84 percent. In the first quarter, Bayi Steel posted a net profit of 150 million yuan, and its fixed assets investment also jumped strongly.