Angang leads steel sector losers with 2.15b net loss

Angang Steel Co projected a net loss of 2.15 billion yuan (US$339 million) in 2011, becoming another Chinese steel maker that reported a deficit.

In its performance forecast filed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the steel company in Anshan, northeastern Liaoning Province, said higher costs of materials and fuels more than offset the rising price of steel.

The forecast made Angang the biggest money loser in 2011 among Chinese steel makers that already made their earnings forecast. Angang posted net profit of 2.05 billion yuan in 2010.

A cooling Chinese economy has reduced the demand for steel by the real estate and automobile industries and weighed on the steel sector's profitability.

Yesterday, Maanshan Iron & Steel Co and Nanjing Iron & Steel Co said they expected their 2011 net profit to fall by more than half from the previous year.

Baoshan Iron and Steel Co, China's largest listed steelmaker, said earlier this month that its unaudited 2011 net profit fell 43 percent to 7.3 billion yuan.