China Steel Corporation, Taiwan’s largest steelmaker, recorded its worst monthly pretax loss in 2½ years during June as declining steel sales volumes and prices hurt revenue and widened operating losses. The company posted a pretax loss of NT$15.78 billion ($491 million) for the month, marking its poorest performance since December 2022.
Monthly revenue fell to NT$25.54 billion ($794 million), down 14.7% year-over-year and 12.9% from May, representing the steelmaker’s lowest single-month sales in five years. The deterioration continued into the second quarter, where the company swung to a pretax loss of NT$26.85 billion ($835 million) from a profit in the previous year.
For the first half of 2024, China Steel accumulated pretax losses of NT$15.67 billion ($487 million), reflecting broader challenges facing Taiwan’s steel industry. Steel sales volumes totaled 3.78 million metric tons during the six-month period.
The company attributed the weak performance to reduced demand from Taiwan’s construction sector and global trade uncertainties. However, management expressed cautious optimism, citing China’s announcement of large-scale dam construction projects in the southwest region, which could boost demand for basic construction materials.
China Steel also noted that the US has begun notifying trading partners of tariff rates, gradually reducing market uncertainty, which may help terminal demand slowly recover.
The steelmaker’s struggles mirror broader industry challenges, as China’s steel production decreased by 1.7% year-on-year to 1.005 billion tons in 2024, the lowest level in five years, while exports reached a record high of 110.72 million tons.
