Angang Steel, the listed unit of one of the mainland's largest steel producers, may see its output fall for the first time in at least 11 years after one of its 10 blast furnaces was shut down due to safety issues.
The company's first-half profit this year is also expected to come under pressure from higher material costs.
Angang vice-chairman Chen Gang said yesterday the board originally planned for crude steel output to be flat this year from last year's 21.66 million tonnes, and steel product output to be flat from last year's 20.87 million tonnes.
'The actual output will now probably be less,' he said, adding that one of the firm's 10 blast furnaces responsible for a tenth of its capacity had been stopped for safety inspection.
'The problem is being investigated,' he added.
On Wednesday, the company unveiled a 174.6 per cent jump in net profit to 2.05 billion yuan (HK$2.4 billion) last year from 748 million yuan in 2009.