China's biggest listed steelmaker Baoshan Iron & Steel Co on Thursday reported a more than 30 per cent plunge in first-quarter net profit, citing higher raw material prices and poor domestic demand.
The company, known as Baosteel, said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange that it earned 3.7 billion yuan ($559.5 million) during January-March, down from 5.4 billion yuan in same period of 2021.
The producer's first-quarter sales revenue rose 3.8 per cent on an annual basis to 85.98 billion yuan, according to the filing.
"Affected by the Russia-Ukraine conflict... commodity prices jumped significantly," said the company, noting that Platts' 62 per cent iron ore index jumped 29 per cent in the first three months from the fourth quarter of last year.
Meanwhile, the resurgent COVID-19 outbreak had hurt overall performance in the industry, the company said.
Shanghai, where Baosteel's headquarters and one of its major production bases are located, started in March to battle the country's worst pandemic outbreak since the virus was first reported in 2020.
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