It's reported that the majority of the steel mills in China posted lower profits in steel production in 2012, suffered by high raw material cost, weak market demand and oversupply problem. As results, the profit of steelmakers in Hebei province, northern China fell by 50.34% compared to the same period of time last year to RMB 1.045434 trillion in January to November last year although they sold 7.136 million tons of hot rolled steel products. Along with other mills in medium to small sizes, Hebei province is the location for the largest steel mill group, Hebei Iron and Steel Group.
Source:
http://www.yieh.com/2.2.01.01stainlesssteelnews.aspx?no=62592&division=A6
