Troubled steel traders push state rail firm into the red

State-owned China Railway Materials (CRM) said in an annual report that it suffered a net loss last year of US$1.2 billion (RMB7.65 billion) mainly tied to disputes with troubled steel-trading companies, Caixin reported. It said that as of December 31, CRM had set aside US$980 million (RMB6.1 billion) to offset losses from write-offs of bad loans and damaged inventories, both of which were related to disputes with steel-trading companies. “Since the second half of 2012, some steel-trading companies have been unable to fulfill contracts and some have defaulted on their debts,” the report says.