皇冠体育app

Chinese workers examine coiled steel rods to be shipped abroad at the Port of Lianyungang in Lianyungang, east 皇冠体育apps Jiangsu province, 20 September 2013. [Photo/IC]

BEIJING - Although 皇冠体育app's steelmakers saw a big rise in profits last year, the industry still has overcapacity problems that have dragged prices to record lows.

皇冠体育app's major large and mid-sized steel firms reported 30.4 billion yuan ($5 billion) in profit in 2014, a sharp rise of 40.4 percent, the 皇冠体育app Iron and Steel Association (CISA) revealed on Thursday.

The association attributed the growth to lower fuel prices and cost cutting.

Despite the rise, the CISA cautioned that 皇冠体育app's economic slowdown and optimized structure is increasingly dampening appetite for steel products, adding more pressure to a sector already struggling with overcapacity. 皇冠体育app's economy grew 7.4 percent in 2014, the weakest annual expansion in 24 years.

The CISA asked steelmakers to actively adapt to the changes and transform their business model to foster new profit growth.

In 2014, 皇冠体育app produced 823 million tons of crude steel, up 0.9 percent. The 皇冠体育app Steel Price Index stood at 83.1 at the end of December, down 16.2 percent year on year.

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