Baoshan Iron & Steel, China’s top listed steelmaker, reported a 43.6% plunge in first-quarter net profit on Tuesday and warned of a big first-half drop citing the coronavirus pandemic, reported Reuters.
Known as Baosteel, its January-March net income fell to RMB 1.54 billion ($217 million) from 2.73 billion a year earlier, a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange showed.
“Due to the extended Spring Festival holidays and spreading new coronavirus pandemic at home and abroad, domestic demand for steel products dropped obviously,” Baosteel said in the filing, adding that steady iron ore prices also dragged down profit at its mills.
The benchmark price index of iron ore with 62% iron content edged up to $89.0 per ton in the first quarter from $88.61 in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to S&P Global Platts.