China Economic Watch: Steel Profits Drop 49% in 1H

Disposable Income Increases 1.8-Fold 2002-2011
Urban and rural disposable incomes have risen to ¥21,800 and ¥6,977 respectively per year in China in 2011, both up 180% from a decade earlier, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics. If inflation was accounted for, the annualized growth for urbanites and rural dwellers was 9.2% and 8.1% respectively. Total consumer spending amounted to ¥18.39 trillion last year, up 280% from a decade ago. Every 100 urban households possessed 18.6 vehicles as of the end of 2011, up substantially from less than one at the end of 2002; the number of tourists totaled 2.64 billion people in 2011, up from 880 million in 2002.

Steel Profits Drop 49% in 1H
Profits from China's steel industry contracted 49.4% year on year to ¥66.4 billion in 1H 2012, the National Development and Reform Commission said. Profits from nonferrous metal mining were down 14.5% to ¥35.8 billion, and profits from steel smelting were down 68.1% to ¥24.9 billion. Between January and July, the nation rolled out 419.46 million crude steel, up 2.1%year on year; the rate was 8.2 percentage points slower than in the same period of last year.

$1 = ¥6.36