BEIJING, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's major steel companies saw their profitability down in the first eight months, the latest data showed.

During the January-August period, profits of the country's major steel mills reached 109.64 billion yuan (about 16.1 billion U.S. dollars), down by 18.6 percent year on year, narrowing 10 percentage points from the first seven months, according to data from the China Iron and Steel Association.

Sales revenues of the enterprises logged a year-on-year growth of 5.8 percent to 2.9 trillion yuan, showed the data.

Steel exports fell during the period, down by 18.6 percent year on year to 36.56 million tonnes. Imports jumped by 59.6 percent to 12.19 million tonnes. Enditem

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