On January 17, Xinjiang-based Chinese steelmaker Bayi Iron and Steel Co. (Bayi Steel), a subsidiary of Chinese steel giant Baosteel Group, issued its financial results for 2012, indicating a net profit of RMB 155 million ($25 million), down 67.77 percent compared to 2011.?In 2012, Bayi Steel achieved an operating revenue of RMB 26.586 billion ($4.2 billion), down 4.88 percent year on year, while it registered an operating profit of RMB 138 million ($22 million), down 73.27 percent on year-on-year basis.

Bayi Steel stated that in 2012 its profits were impacted negatively by increasingly higher costs and declines in steel sales prices amid the sluggishness of the steel market.

On the same date, Bayi Steel also announced that it has completed the acquisition of a 100 percent interest in Nanjiang Steel Baicheng Co. In November 2012, Bayi Steel had stated that it planned to acquire 100 percent of shares in Nanjiang Steel Baicheng for a total of RMB 481 million ($77 million).

Nanjiang Steel Baicheng Co. was established in 2010 with a designed annual steel production capacity of 3 million mt, and its main products are steel ingot and wire rods. The initial investment of the company was about RMB8.8 billion (approx. US$1.4 billion). With this acquisition, Bayi Steel's total annual steel output capacity will increase from 8 million mt to 11 million mt.