China's steel industry profits fell 27.4% in the first nine months of 2026 as weak steel prices and rising fuel costs added to pressure on producers. The industry continued to face a mismatch between strong supply and weak demand.

Companies covered by the China Iron and Steel Association's key statistical survey recorded combined operating revenue of 4.57 trillion yuan and a sales profit margin of 1.57%, down 0.55 percentage points year on year. The proportion of surveyed companies reporting losses rose to 29.6%, an increase of 11.4 percentage points.

The figures point to pressure on both revenue and costs: weaker steel prices can reduce returns from sales, while higher fuel costs make it harder to protect margins. The increase in the share of loss-making companies also shows that profitability pressures affected more surveyed producers than a year earlier.

Whether margins recover will depend in part on how steel prices and fuel costs change, as well as whether the imbalance between supply and demand narrows. The figures do not establish when those conditions might improve.