TISCO enjoys turnaround in Q1 net profit

"Excessive supply pressure heavily weighed on the stainless steel market last year," TISCO commented in the report. In 2024, China's crude stainless steel output rose by 7.54% year-on-year, outpacing the 4.54% year-on-year growth in apparent consumption. This imbalance pressured prices, with 304-grade stainless cold-rolled coil prices falling by 9.8% from 2023 averaged levels, according to the report.

TISCO generated revenue of Yuan 23.3 billion over January-March, lower by 4.7% compared with the same period last year.

TISCO, China's second-largest stainless steel producer, has an annual stainless steel production capacity of 4.5 million tonnes, Mysteel Global noted. The company also manufactures other products, including carbon steel billet, ferroalloys, and metal products.

On the same day, TISCO also released its full-year 2024 annual report, attributing last year's struggles largely to the severe pressures faced by the domestic stainless steel market.

In 2024, TISCO and its 51%-owned subsidiary Shandong Xinhai Technology Co., Ltd. jointly produced 6.2 million tonnes of stainless steel. Xinhai, noted Mysteel Global, has an annual crude austenitic stainless production capacity of 1.62 million tonnes.

The report also showed that TISCO directly exported 348,100 tonnes of stainless steel in 2024, accounting for approximately 6.7% of China's total stainless steel exports last year, according to Mysteel Global's calculations based on data from the General Administration of Customs (GACC).

Besides the challenging domestic market, TISCO also faced tough conditions internationally. With operating costs rising, TISCO's gross profit dipped by 1.32% year-on-year to Yuan 6.4 billion in 2024, the report said.

Written by Adele Pan, panqinjie@mysteel.com         

Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com