While steel sales have been slipping elsewhere in China since 2014 onward, the city of Harbin, in Heilongjiang province, has a steel company that has been bucking the trend.

The company, Gutie Steel Trade, mainly distributes steel materials to clients in the province, and other parts in northern China earned more than 10 billion yuan last year, for a 47.8 percent year-on-year rise.

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Heavy hoisting at the Gutie Steel Trade Co, in Harbin, Heilongjiang province.

According to its CEO, Liu Mingshan, ,the company employs 5,000 people and sell around 10,000 tons of steel each day and it has targeted the huge Russian Far East market.

Liu says they are ready to supply spare parts and other products to Russian customers via the freight rail line and that his company has not only raw materials but can also handle the preliminary processing at a customer’s request. And, they are getting involved with “Internet Plus” by combining the Internet with the traditional steel industry with a steel industry trade and information site.

Liu concludes by saying, “We’re confident and are setting up a steel logistics center in the Northeast and an industrial chain that streamlines sales and preliminary processing,” then adds that this can all be done thanks to help from the rail freight network, online business site and advantageous location.