China's 68 large and medium sized iron and steel companies made 55.39 billion yuan (8.12 billion U.S. dollars) in profit in 2009, down 31.43% year on year, said China Iron & Steel Association.  The profit was so low that depositing money in banks would have got better returns, according to the honorary chairman of the association.

The 68 companies reaped 2.25 trillion yuan last year in revenue, a 10.1% drop from a year earlier.
The drop in profit was attributed to the low price of steel products. In 2009, the average price index of steel products dropped 25% year on year, or 33.54 points, to 103.12 points, according to the association.

The total output of crude steel of the top five iron and steel companies accounts for 29.06% of the country's total amount, which shows the convergence and reorganization of the industry, although not as much as had been expected, said the association.