Iron and steel industry sees profit rebound in Oct

China's iron and steel industry saw profit rebound for the first time in five months as prices surged amid relatively low raw material costs.

In October, the 80 large and medium-sized steelmakers reported combined profits of 307 million yuan ($49.3 million), China Business News reported, citing data from the China Iron and Steel Association on Tuesday.

The development marks a major turnaround in a sector that has bled money for four consecutivel months.

Monthly sales of the 80 companies reached 297.4 billion yuan, up 2.55 percent. A total of 21, or 26 percent, of the firms were in the red in October, down from 52 percent the previous month. But the buoyancy is unlikely to offset the overall deficits for the majority of the year. In the first 10 months of 2012, combined losses reached 5.22 billion yuan, compared to 84.9 billion yuan profit year-on-year.

Major steelmakers such as Baosteel have slashed the prices of their main products several times this year, indicating a lack of market confidence in the short term.