Chinese steelmakers' profits plunged by 96 per cent in the first half compared with a year ago, a Chinese official said yesterday, as the economic slowdown turned the industry into a "disaster zone".
一位中国官员昨日表示，今年上半年中国钢企利润同比骤降96%。经济增长放缓使钢铁业变成"重灾区"。
Zhu Jimin, chairman of the China Iron and Steel Association, said in a speech posted on the association's website that the aggregate profit of the nation's steelmakers fell to Rmb2.39bn ($379m) in the first half year due to falling demand and rising costs.
中国钢铁工业协会(China Iron and Steel Association)会长朱继民在该协会网站贴出的一篇演讲中表示，由于需求疲弱和原燃料价格处于高位，上半年会员钢铁企业累计利润跌至23.9亿元人民币(合3.79亿美元)。
Chinese companies have issued profit warnings as the slight downturn in economic growth has had a disproportionate effect on profits. The China Securities Journal, an official newspaper, described the steel industry as the "main disaster zone" in the downturn, with 80 per cent of listed steel producers warning that their results will be worse than forecast.
近期中国企业接连发布盈利预警。经济增长轻度放缓对企业利润造成超出比例的影响。官方的《中国证券报》(China Securities Journal)形容钢铁行业为"重灾区"，80%的上市钢材生产商警告称，它们的业绩将逊于预测。
"The first half saw a big drop in investments in property and also in railways, cars and ships, so demand for steel has weakened," Mr Zhu said.
朱继民表示："今年上半年由于国家实施严格的房地产调控政策，以及铁路、公路等基础设施建设项目投资大幅回落，因此钢材需求疲软。
" Shipping industry production dropped 10.1 per cent year on year while auto production grew by only 6.7 per cent in the first half, depressing demand for steel.
造船完工量同比下降10.1%，同时上半年汽车产量同比只增长6.7%，削弱了对钢材的需求。
He said that the cost of iron ore had soared, rising to $153 per tonne in May from $136 at the end of last year. Rising costs are one important reason for falling steelmaker profits, said Hou Zhiyun, analyst at Beijing Lange Steel Information Research, with ore prices rising sixfold from 2003 to 2011.
朱继民表示，进口铁矿石价格从去年底每吨136.3美元，涨至5月中旬的153美元。北京兰格钢铁信息研究中心(Beijing Lange Steel Information Research)分析师侯志芸表示，成本不断上升是钢企利润不断下降的一个重要原因。从2003年到2011年，铁矿石价格上涨了6倍。
She said: "China relies too much on imported iron ore . . . and with three large state-owned companies dominating importation of ore, steelmakers have seen the cost of raw materials increasing."
侯志芸表示："中国过度依赖进口铁矿石……而且在三大国有企业主宰铁矿石进口的情况下，钢企发现原材料价格日益上涨。"
She added that conditions in the first half of this year had been particularly bad because of the European economic crisis and the fall in global steel demand from the construction and shipping industries, as well as the slowing of China's economy.
她补充称，由于欧洲经济危机和全球建筑和造船工业对钢材需求下降，加上中国经济放缓，今年上半年形势尤其严峻。
"From the beginning of this year, the economy has begun to slow, however production capacity in the steel industry has kept on expanding," she said, noting that industry capacity is expected to reach 900m tons this year.
侯志芸称："自今年初以来，中国经济开始放缓，然而钢铁行业的产能继续扩张。"她指出，预计今年钢铁行业的产能将达到9亿吨。
"Since supply exceeds demand, then steel products' prices have dropped." The situation has left Chinese steelmakers burdened by debt. "
由于供大于求，因此钢材产品的价格下降"。这种形势让中国钢企负债累累。
Profits are under pressure outside the steel industry, too. Margins at state-owned enterprises, the giants of the Chinese economy, fell 11.6 per cent in the first six months of the year from the same period in 2011, the weakest showing since the global financial crisis erupted in late 2008.
钢铁业以外的其它行业也面临利润压力。中国经济中的巨人――国有企业利润今年上半年同比下降11.6%，为2008年末全球金融危机爆发以来最为疲弱的表现。