It is reported that Guangxi based Liuzhou Steel churned out 2.72 million tonnes of iron, 3.03 million tonnes of crude steel and 2.92 million tonnes of finished products in the H1 of 2008 exceeding the comparable rates of the same period last year with sales revenue of CNY 21.2 billion up by 62.86%.

Guangxi based Liuzhou Steel exported steel products of 302,400 tonnes in the same period with export value of USD 235 million.

As per report, price has soared 71% to 96.5% for imported iron ore; 45% for pig iron and 40% for scrap in the first half and price for coal also more than doubled, which lead to record high input costs and drag down profit margins for steel sector. And Liuzhou Steel's six blast furnaces all have been suspended for a period of time due to coal shortage in the review period.

Guangxi based Liuzhou Steel has imported 3.67 million tonnes of iron ore in the first half despite the transport difficulty, which lowers its purchase cost by CNY 265 million. The steel mill rolled out over 1 million tonnes of HRC in the first half. Meanwhile, the mill has poured a total of CNY 2.48 billion for technological improvement. Achieved core business income of CNY 19.2 billion and non steel revenue of CNY 2.09 billion up by 58.79% YoY and 113% YoY respectively.