Iron, steel industry earnings up 7.8 pct in 1st 7 months

China's iron and steel industry earned 84.85 billion yuan ($13.87 billion) in the first seven months, an increase of 7.8 percent year-on-year, the National Development and Reform Commission said on its website on Wednesday.

The ferrous metal mining and dressing sector contributed 45.68 billion yuan of profit in the January-July period, down 7.2 percent year-on-year, the NDRC said in a monthly report on industrial operation.

China's crude steel output increased 7.8 percent to 521.84 million metric tons during the first 8 months, according to NDRC.