China’s industrial profits extend slump into seventh month

BEIJING: Profits at China’s industrial firms fell 6.7 per cent in July from a year earlier, extending this year’s slump to a seventh month with weak demand squeezing companies as a post-pandemic recovery faltered in the world’s second-biggest economy, Reuters reported.

Earnings shrank 15.5 per cent year-on-year for the first seven months, following a 16.8 per cent decline in the first half of the year, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on Sunday.

Profits were down 8.3 per cent in June, according to the bureau. “Commodity prices are running low, the pressure on raw material costs in the midstream and downstream industries has eased. Unit cost of industrial enterprises has improved overall,” NBS statistician Sun Xiao said in an accompanying statement.

Big Chinese manufacturers posted losses for the first half, with engineering firm China Aluminum International reporting a net loss of 830.6 million yuan ($114.2 million), compared with a year-earlier net profit of 123.6

million yuan.