The quarterly report of Baoshan Iron and Steel Co Ltd (Baosteel) revealed that the company suffered a 49.68 percent drop year-on-year in terms of net profit in the third quarter this year, the Shanghai Securities News reported today.

As a listed company in the Shanghai bourse, Baosteel realized net profits of 2.39 billion yuan (US$39.61 million), down 49.68 percent from the same period of last year. The earnings per share (EPS) totaled 0.14 yuan.

In the first nine months, the steel giant's net profits climbed to 10.55 billion yuan, and EPS was a recorded 0.6 yuan.

The slump was mainly attributed to tumbling stainless steel product prices. The high cost of nickel caused the company's margins from stainless steel product to fall 2.1 billion yuan in the third quarter from a quarter before.

In the meantime, soaring raw materials and transportation costs led the price of carbon steel to decline slightly.

Another six metallurgy companies, including Inner Mongolia BaoTou Steel Union Co Ltd, Aluminum Corporation of China Limited, Inner Mongolia BaoTou Steel Rare-earth Hi-tech Co Ltd, and Henan Yuguang Gold and Lead Co Ltd, also released their quarterly reports today.

Aluminum Corporation of China Ltd’s net profits also surpassed two billion in the first nine months this year.

(Chinadaily.com.cn October 30, 2007)