South Korean steelmaker POSCO said Thursday its third-quarter profit almost doubled from a year earlier on higher demand for steel products.

Net profit for the July-September quarter soared to 907 billion won (US$806 million), up 91 percent from 476 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

Operating profit climbed 8.8 percent on-year to 1.13 trillion won in the third quarter, and sales shot up 18 percent to 15.04 trillion won over the cited period, it said.

Helped by the ongoing restructuring in the Chinese steel industry, steady steel demand from developing countries, companywide cost reductions and increased sales of high-end steel products, POSCO expects to report solid earnings results for the whole of 2017.

POSCO was among steelmakers hit hard by the 2008 financial crisis, along with shipbuilders and shipping lines. The company has streamlined itself by selling non-core assets and reorganizing its businesses to regain competitiveness in recent years.

The world's fourth-largest steelmaker by output has revised up its annual sales target to 59.5 trillion won from 54.8 trillion won while cutting capital expenditure to 3.3 trillion won from 3.5 trillion won.

In the January-September period, net profit more than doubled to 2.414 trillion won from 1.034 trillion won the previous year. Operating profit jumped 46 percent on-year to 3.47 trillion won. Sales were up 18 percent to 45.06 trillion won.

In this photo taken March 2, 2017, high-end cold-rolled steel products are piled up at POSCO's steel plant in Pohang, 374 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap)

Hwi Won  edt@koreapost.com

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