Shoudu Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. (Shougang  Steel),  the  Shenzhen-listed  subsidiary  of China's leading steelmaker  Shoudu Iron and Steel Group (Shougang), reported on Saturday that the company's net profit increased 33.75 percent on an annual basis to RMB 964.86  million  ($137.85  million) in 2007, due to steel product price hikes.

Shougang  Steel's  average steel product price expanded by 12.62 percent year-on-year  in  2007, while its average steel billet price lifted 7.59 percent over the period.

The company's  operating  revenue  increased  13.17 percent on an annual basis to RMB 25.06 billion ($3.58 billion) in 2007.

Shougang  Steel's  pig  iron  and steel output dropped slightly from the previous  year  to 4.29 million tons and 4.97 tons respectively in 2007, while its steel product output edged up 3.54 percent year-on-year to 4.8 million tons over the period.

The company  plans to produce 4.23 million tons of pig iron, 4.9 million tons of steel and 4.65 million tons of steel products in 2008.

Shougang  Steel  completed  construction  on  a RMB 6.4 billion ($914.38 million)  facility  with  a  designed output capacity of 700,000 tons of cold-rolled  steel  sheet and 800,000 tons of galvanized sheet per annum in Beijing's  Shunyi district at the end of 2007. The project is part of Shougang  Steel's  ongoing relocation project and will help optimize the company's production portfolio.