CSC Sets Record High August Sales of NT$26.52 B.

Taipei, September 5, 2008 (CENS)--China Steel Corporation (CSC), Taiwan's largest integrated producer of steel products, saw August sales hit NT$26.52 billion (US$833.96 million at US$1:NT$31.8), up a whopping 50.72% year-on-year or up 2.01% from the previous month, setting all-time-high records four months in a row.

CSC registered NT$176.83 billion (US$5.56 billion) in cumulative sales in the first eight months of this year, up 31.15% year-on-year.

The company attributed such outstanding performance to steady shipment growths, as well as several raising of prices since the beginning of this year.

A market analyst predicted CSC will see gross operating profit margin in the third quarter of this year to fall slightly from the previous quarter due to higher raw material costs. However, CSC will generate the same earnings as the previous quarter with steadily rising sales.

CSC posted 22.52% and 26.96% in gross operating profit margin in the first and second quarters of this year respectively. With new contracts of high prices in raw materials, CSC expects to see gross operating profit margin slide to between 23% and 25% in the third quarter of this year.

With wholesale product prices having been raised 3.92% for products to be shipped in the fourth quarter of this year, CSC expects such price hike will contribute between NT$2.5 billion (US$78.61 million) and NT$3 billion (US$94.33 million) to total corporate sales in the fourth quarter. Accordingly, the company's fourth-quarter earnings will be modestly higher than the third-quarter's.