OREANDA-NEWS. April 02, 2014. General Steel Holdings, Inc. ("General Steel" or the "Company") (NYSE: GSI), a leading non-state-controlled steel producer in China, announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2013.

The Company will file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013 with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission following market close.

"We are encouraged that we were able to deliver nearly USD50 million year-over-year improvement in net income for the fourth quarter, despite a very challenging market environment," said Henry Yu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Steel. "During the fourth quarter, the average selling price of rebar decreased, while the cost of iron ore increased from a quarter ago, and as a result, our gross margin was depressed. Facing this difficult market, we proactively scaled back production and took time in December to conduct a comprehensive equipment maintenance and upgrade, as we anticipate the market will noticeably improve in 2014."

"We believe China's steel industry is entering a new era, as the government is determined to shut down inefficient factories in order to reduce pollution and balance supply. As the sole qualified steel maker elected by the MIIT in our local market in Shaanxi province[1], we are confident that we will not only survive in this new era but also thrive in the eventual improved market environment. We will continue to harvest lower production costs from our newly built continuous-rolling production lines, as well as lower operating costs from our comprehensive benchmarking programs. As such, despite the market difficulties over the past couple of years, I remain very positive due to General Steel's many operational accomplishments during this period, and I'm optimistic that as the overall industry and market environment improves, we are firmly positioned to convert those operational improvements into healthier financial results," Mr. Yu concluded.

John Chen, Chief Financial Officer of General Steel, commented, "We are glad that we were able to earn positive EBITDA for the full year 2013. We made great strides in controlling operating expenses, lowering finance expenses and enhancing funding flexibility. We believe we have considerably strengthened our financial foundation, and are well positioned for the industry's new era."