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 percent year on year, said a senior official from China Iron &Steel Association Tuesday.

The 68 companies reaped a total business revenue of 2.25 trillion yuan last year, a 10.1 percent drop from a year earlier, said Luo Bingsheng, vice chairman of the association.

Luo attributed the drop in profit to the low price of steel products. In 2009, the average price index of steel products dropped 25 percent 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, namely Hebei, Baosteel, Wisco, Angang and Shagang, now accounts for 29.06 percent of the country's total amount, which shows the convergence and reorganization of the industry, although not as much as had been expected, said Luo.

Source: Xinhua