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Baosteel’s third-quarter profit falls 30% as coking coal jumps 35% and its export orders grow

Baowu’s listed steelmaker said coking coal rose far faster than steel prices in the third quarter, squeezing margins, while its export orders for the first nine months were up 14% on a year earlier.

By Kunal VartakPublished Updated 3 min read
Illustration: a coastal integrated steelworks at dusk with a blast furnace, a coking coal conveyor, steel coils on the quay and a bulk carrier at berth
Illustration of a coastal Chinese steelworks with steel coils on the quay for export

Baoshan Iron & Steel (Baosteel), the listed flagship of China Baowu, said its third-quarter net profit fell 29.67% on a year earlier to RMB 2.167 billion, as coking coal costs rose much faster than steel prices. Its export orders kept growing. For European buyers, the report points to a cost floor that is rising for blast-furnace mills, and to continued Chinese export pressure (Baosteel quarterly report, in Chinese).

What Baosteel reported

Revenue for July to September was RMB 84.92 billion, up 4.75%. Net profit excluding one-off items fell 40.5% to RMB 1.961 billion, financial news agency Cailian Press reported. Total profit of RMB 2.82 billion was RMB 70 million higher than in the second quarter. Baosteel said its total profit was still the highest in China’s steel industry. For January to September, net profit was RMB 6.74 billion, down 15.33% (SteelOrbis).

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The company described the quarter in its filing (published in full by the China Securities Journal). Its domestic steel price index fell 1.9% against the second quarter and the Platts 62% iron ore index fell 7.9%, but Shanxi Lüliang coking coal rose 34.9%. It called the market one of strong supply and weak demand, and said raw material costs rise more easily than they fall.

Baosteel took 5.873 million tonnes of export orders in the first nine months, 704,000 t more than a year earlier. Its crude steel output was 13.094 Mt in the quarter and 38.632 Mt over nine months.

What it means for buyers

Analysis The export order book grew by about 14% (Loharo calculation), while the Chinese customs total for January–September was 2.6% lower (our report). Orders and customs shipments are different measures, so this shows direction only: China’s biggest steel group appears to be taking a larger share of a shrinking export market while home demand stays weak (NBS data).

Analysis The coal signal matches JSW Steel’s: its chief executive expects coking coal to cost about $25/t more in October–December, Reuters reported (our JSW report). Higher coking coal costs raise the cost floor for blast-furnace mills everywhere, including in Europe, ahead of 2027 contract talks (our report). Little Chinese steel can enter the EU directly at the 50% out-of-quota duty, but lower-cost Asian supply weighs on third markets.

What to watch

  • Mid-November: Chinese customs data for October exports (September data came on 14 October).
  • Coking coal in the fourth quarter: whether the third-quarter jump continues, as JSW’s chief executive expects.

Verification status: Verified

  • Baosteel’s figures and market description were read in Chinese in the company’s third-quarter report and operating-data notice. Loharo used the full text published by the China Securities Journal, because the Shanghai Stock Exchange PDF could not be opened by our tools. The figures were cross-checked with Securities Daily, Cailian Press and SteelOrbis. The 14% export-order growth is a Loharo calculation. Last fact-check: 28 October 2026.
  • Key: Verified = material factual claims are supported by an appropriate primary source or clearly attributed reporting/market assessments; Partially verified = a specific material claim remains unsupported, contradicted or materially overstated; Analysis = interpretation or forecast with sourced premises; Developing = material facts are checked but the situation is still changing.

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