Baoshan Iron and Steel Co Ltd, or Baosteel, China's leading steel manufacturer, is optimistic about its financial performance this year, and will double down on its "high-end, smart, and green" strategy to cater to rising demand from electric vehicle manufacturers, a senior executive said.

Bao Ping, chief engineer of Automotive Steel Plate Technical Services at the Shanghai-based company, said despite the domestic steel industry's weak performance since the latter half of 2022, Baosteel has maintained its position at the top in terms of total profit and outperformed its competitors last year.

The sector has been struggling with low downstream demand and supply pressures.

In the first quarter, Baosteel reported a total profit of some 2.8 billion yuan ($386.5 million), maintaining its leading position in the domestic market. For the full year 2023, the company achieved a total profit of 15.09 billion yuan.

Baosteel's growth in the international market this year has also fueled its better performance, with export order volume exceeding 1.5 million tons in the first quarter.

The company's commitment to building a high-end, smart and green production chain has played a pivotal role in its resilience and continued profitability, it said.

In terms of its premiumization strategy, differentiation serves as its core competence, said the engineer.

This strategy is built around a specialized portfolio family that highlights plates and silicon steel, alongside a range of differentiated products.

In 2023, Baosteel achieved a sales volume of 27.92 million tons within this portfolio, up 10 percent year-on-year. Sales of cold-rolled automotive sheets surpassed 9 million tons, setting a record.

Last year, the company's investment in research and development reached 5.68 percent of total revenue, with trial products accounting for 37 percent of sales, a 4.8 percent year-on-year increase. Baosteel had 10 global product launches in 2023.

On the technological front, Baosteel continues to advance its smart production capabilities. The company introduced 15 new systems, including a digital R&D platform, and smart management and marketing.

The smart factory initiative has seen the addition of nearly 50 new intelligent production lines and the deployment of over 200 robots, significantly enhancing production efficiency, he said.

"We have positioned 2024 as the first year for Baosteel to promote its AI strategy," said Bao. On April 26, the company signed a cooperation agreement with Huawei, and launched its computing center.

"We will rely on cloud computing and the new generation of AI technology to boost the transformation and implementation of AI," said Bao.

Baosteel's efforts at environmental sustainability have also yielded significant results, said the company. It made strides in ultralow emission transformation last year, with its Dongshan and Baoshan bases receiving the Performance A-level enterprise award for 2022.

Additionally, Baosteel has completed the construction of the industry's first carbon management information system.

This system enables scientific management and certification of carbon footprints and carbon assets. The company also increased its participation in green electricity trading, coming second in the 2023 China Enterprise Green Electricity Trading Ranking.

wangzhuoqiong@chinadaily.com.cn