Beijing-based Chinese steel producer Shougang Steel Group has announced that in the first half of the current year it achieved a total operation income of RMB 6.5 billion ($1 billion), down 54.36 percent year on year. Meanwhile, the net profit of Shougang Steel in the given period reached RMB 306 million ($47.9 million), rising by 362 percent compared to the same period of 2010.

The company said in the statement that the drop of its operating income resulted from the reduction in steel production, which decreased by 53.61 percent year on year in the first six months of this year, totaling 1.13 million mt, while the equity investments contributed to the significant increase of its net profit. During the same period, the earnings per share (EPS) of the company stood at RMB 0.1031 ($0.016).