The total profits of the three largest mining giants in the world exceeded the sum of Chinese steel enterprises by 5 times

A few days ago, the world’s top three mining giants announced the completion of their performance report last year. As expected, the profits of the three major mines that once again earned “full profits” totaled more than five times the total of China’s 77 steel companies. In contrast, “losing the head” Chinese steel companies have been working for international mine workers.

According to the 2011 financial report of the world's largest iron ore giant Brazil's Vale, the company's annual operating income and operating profit margin reached US$30.1 billion and 48.5%, respectively, while net profit reached US$22.89 billion, an increase of 32.6% year-on-year. Last year, Vale produced 323 million tons of iron ore, a year-on-year increase of 4.8%, and sales reached 299 million tons, a record high.

Rio Tinto’s annual report showed that net profit in 2011 was US$5.8 billion, a decrease of 59% compared to 2010, and the decrease was mainly attributable to the impairment charge of US$8.9 billion related aluminum business; current revenue reached a record high of US$15.5 billion, which was higher than in 2010. 11%; operating cash flow increased to a record $27.4 billion, an increase of 16% over 2010. BHP Billiton said that its net profit in 2011 increased by 34.8% year-on-year to US$23 billion, operating income rose by 20.3% year-on-year to US$75.53 billion, and iron ore production increased by 16.7% year-on-year to 149 million tons.

The sum of profits of the three major mines has exceeded 50 billion U.S. dollars (equivalent to 400 billion U.S. dollars). Correspondingly, last year, the total profit of 77 large and medium-sized steel enterprises in China was only over 80 billion yuan***. This means that the total profit of Chinese mainstream steel companies is still less than one-fifth of the three major mines. This once again verified that due to the mine's monopoly on the raw material of iron ore, Chinese steel enterprises are only migrant workers in international mines.