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China’s biggest listed steelmaker, Baoshan Iron & Steel Co, on Friday reported a 4.4% rise in its first-quarter net profit despite lower steel prices amid disappointing downstream demand over the period.
The company, known as Baosteel, said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange that it earned about 1.93 billion yuan ($266.35 million) during January-March, up from 1.85 billion yuan over the same period in 2023.
Meanwhile, the company posted a fall of 2% year-on-year in its net profit in 2023 to 11.94 billion yuan.
Baosteel is a subsidiary of the state-owned China Baowu Steel Group, the world’s largest steelmaker.
The steelmaker’s first-quarter operating revenue rose 2.81% year-on-year to 80.81 billion yuan.
“We have overcome challenges from a falling steel market…we cut costs by 2.24 billion yuan, supporting the company to outperform the industry,” said the company.
Baosteel manufactured 11.88 million metric tons of iron and 13.10 million tons of steel in the first quarter.
It received 1.52 million tons of overseas orders for steel products in the first quarter.