# China Steel (2002.TW)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/2002.TW

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:36:07.314Z. Financial observations: FY2000–FY2025.

Listing currency: TWD. Reporting currency: TWD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: fail; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: TWD 19.25 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 6 revenue declines in the last 10 years

- more than 5 revenue declines in ten years

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 6

- Years with a net loss: 1

- Operating margin variation: 0.99×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 0.09×

- FY2017: 0.07×

- FY2018: 0.08×

- FY2019: 0.04×

- FY2020: 0.02×

- FY2021: 0.18×

- FY2022: 0.06×

- FY2023: 0.01×

- FY2024: 0.01×

- FY2025: -0.01×

### moat: fail

- ROIC median below threshold

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- Recent gross margin fell 4.5pp below the typical margin (limit 4pp)

- ROIC, median of available years: 3.2%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: 0.3%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: 4.5 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 7.3%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 2.8%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 7.3%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: 3.0%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 4.1%

- FY2017: 4.1%

- FY2018: 5.8%

- FY2019: 2.5%

- FY2020: 0.9%

- FY2021: 14.3%

- FY2022: 3.8%

- FY2023: 0.5%

- FY2024: 0.3%

- FY2025: -0.6%

### economics: fail

- incremental invested capital return below threshold

- Owner earnings / net income, 5-yr: 0.97×

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: TWD 77B

- Net income, five-year total: TWD 79B

- Return on incremental invested capital: 0.0%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: 0.5 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: 3.6 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 33.0%

Chart: Annual owner cash / profit; fiscal year observations.

- FY2021: 1.15×

- FY2022: 1.00×

- FY2023: -1.16×

- FY2024: -2.25×

- FY2025: 1.39×

### management: fail

- Historical market-dollar context (not the management verdict): 2016 to 2025 (9 years)

- buybacks unrelated to price (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: 4.1% vs 0.3%

- Per-share earnings: 1.03 to 0.11 (three-year endpoint medians)

- per-share value declined or ends nonpositive

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 10-year annual growth: -2.7%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: -8.2%

- Market cap gain: TWD -167B

- Cumulative retained earnings: TWD -12B

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: -2.7%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: -8.2%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2016

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value growth: -24.5%

- Per-share value change: TWD -0.92

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: TWD 1.03

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: TWD 0.11

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): -0.60

- Average buyback yield: 0.2%

- Buyback history: 5 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: No

- Acquisition spending: TWD 272M

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: TWD 148B

- ROIC, first three-year median: 4.1%

- ROIC, last three-year median: 0.3%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: TWD 1.03

- FY2017: TWD 1.09

- FY2018: TWD 1.59

- FY2019: TWD 0.57

- FY2020: TWD 0.13

- FY2021: TWD 4.02

- FY2022: TWD 1.10

- FY2023: TWD 0.11

- FY2024: TWD 0.13

- FY2025: TWD -0.38

### accounting: pass

- Sloan accruals: -7.3%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 1.05×

- Restructuring years, last five: 0

- Stock compensation / operating cash flow: 0.0%

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Accounting red flags: 0

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 0.00×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -5.8%

- FY2017: -4.9%

- FY2018: -6.0%

- FY2019: -4.7%

- FY2020: -9.6%

- FY2021: -1.3%

- FY2022: -1.0%

- FY2023: -5.5%

- FY2024: -5.8%

- FY2025: -7.3%

## Holders

## Price story

Down 51% since Mar 2022 · sales -12%

Story as of 2026-10-16T10:00:06.857Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

### Sales · FY2024–2025

sales -12%; source https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/; observed 2026-10-16.

- FY2016: TWD 293B 

- FY2017: TWD 347B 

- FY2018: TWD 401B 

- FY2019: TWD 366B 

- FY2020: TWD 315B 

- FY2021: TWD 468B 

- FY2022: TWD 450B 

- FY2023: TWD 363B 

- FY2024: TWD 361B 

- FY2025: TWD 317B 

### Gross margin · FY2025

gross margin 2.8%; source https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/; observed 2026-10-16.

- FY2016: 13.6% 

- FY2017: 11.3% 

- FY2018: 12.2% 

- FY2019: 7.6% 

- FY2020: 4.8% 

- FY2021: 20.4% 

- FY2022: 7.1% 

- FY2023: 4.6% 

- FY2024: 4.2% 

- FY2025: 2.8% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in steel; annual sales are TWD 317.2 billion.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:07.314Z); FY2025: revenue 317155264000; grossProfit 9025257000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); 2002.TW: China Steel Corporation manufactures and sells steel products in Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, China, India, and internationally. It offers steel plates primarily for use in construction structures, shipbuilding, bridge beams, oil country tabular goods, machine structures, pressure vessels, and in climate/corrosion-resistant steel plates; steel bars and wire rods for applications in general and machine structures, cold and hot forging, hard drawn steel wires, and welding electrodes; and hot-rolled coils and sheets that are used in automobile chassis, bridge beams, construction, road guardrails, steel pipes, pressure vessels, and landscaping. The company also provides cold-rolled coils for use in automobile stamping parts and home electronics products; parts requiring high-level forming, such as automobile and scooter components; a variety of PSE and structural reinforcement parts; and products requiring surface coating treatment comprising painting, electroplating, and the application of adhesive surfaces. In addition, it offers mechanical, communications, and electrical engineering services; generates solar and offshore wind power; general investment; raw materials shipping and management, and ship chartering; business management and management consulting; on-site and systematic security; technical; firefighting and mechatronic engineering; software design and digital information supply; and ERP systems automation control systems services. Further, the company engages in the wholesale of computer software; production and sale of aluminum and non-ferrous metal products, as well as industrial magnetic, chemical, and iron oxides; development and lease of real estate; buying, selling, and acting as an agency for steel products; and manufacturing and trading of electronic ceramics, and aeronautical or marine life saving products. China Steel Corporation was incorporated in 1971 and is headquartered in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 2.8% to 4.6% during 2023–25; it earns 3.2% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:07.314Z); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 4.6%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:07.314Z); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 4.2%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:07.314Z); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 2.8%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:07.314Z); 10-year return on capital observations [[2016,0.04141158402452728],[2017,0.041469222383750975],[2018,0.05763943962130554],[2019,0.024807926595781887],[2020,0.008735204281987942],[2021,0.14291924909182654],[2022,0.038366153097450985],[2023,0.005141431263596119],[2024,0.003341490456571857],[2025,-0.006110651418462072]]; median 0.031587039846616434. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 10 of 10 years.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:07.314Z); FY2016: growth capex 0; upkeep 20001195000; owner earnings 31923953000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:07.314Z); FY2017: growth capex 0; upkeep 21852043000; owner earnings 29775645000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:07.314Z); FY2018: growth capex 0; upkeep 18741751000; owner earnings 40014862000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:07.314Z); FY2019: growth capex 0; upkeep 27239030000; owner earnings 14454598600. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:07.314Z); FY2020: growth capex 0; upkeep 27003640000; owner earnings 6329979400. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:07.314Z); FY2021: growth capex 0; upkeep 21105831000; owner earnings 71411462800. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:07.314Z); FY2022: growth capex 0; upkeep 31957911000; owner earnings 17720826473.634514. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:07.314Z); Dividend observations: [[2016,7815051000],[2017,13264276000],[2018,13892306000],[2019,15779153000],[2020,7915869000],[2021,4778721000],[2022,48872707000],[2023,15759055000],[2024,5505817000],[2025,5196331000]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 26.5% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); 2002.TW SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 26.52 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-16.

### What could break it

Starting in June, the United States increased tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50%.

- Source: https://www.csc.com.tw/csc_e/ss/bd/pdf/stock115_03.pdf (filed ); Business and Financial Performance in 2025 (I) Business and Profitability Analysis In 2025, although raw material costs declined slightly, surging global trade protectionism coupled with uncertainties on tariff policies created a pervasive waitand-see sentiment in the steel market and suppressed demand. Starting in June, the United States increased tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50%. Downstream customers delayed procurement and kept inventories low because of the obstacles encountered in securing export orders, putting pressure on both steel prices and sales volumes.

### What the price says

The price is 0.7 times annual sales; cash earnings are negative.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:07.314Z); Closing price 19.25 TWD; reporting-to-trading FX 1; FY2025 annual sales per share 27.91421347210966; price multiple 0.6896128389658385. FY2025 cash earnings/share -0.5306373189280839. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (TWD per share)

- 2016-10: TWD 22.80 per share

- 2016-11: TWD 25.00 per share

- 2016-12: TWD 24.65 per share

- 2017-01: TWD 25.30 per share

- 2017-02: TWD 25.80 per share

- 2017-03: TWD 25.30 per share

- 2017-04: TWD 24.20 per share

- 2017-05: TWD 24.75 per share

- 2017-06: TWD 24.75 per share

- 2017-07: TWD 24.80 per share

- 2017-08: TWD 25.30 per share

- 2017-09: TWD 24.45 per share

- 2017-10: TWD 24.55 per share

- 2017-11: TWD 24.50 per share

- 2017-12: TWD 24.75 per share

- 2018-01: TWD 24.90 per share

- 2018-02: TWD 24.10 per share

- 2018-03: TWD 23.45 per share

- 2018-04: TWD 23.50 per share

- 2018-05: TWD 23.60 per share

- 2018-06: TWD 23.70 per share

- 2018-07: TWD 25.00 per share

- 2018-08: TWD 25.15 per share

- 2018-09: TWD 25.50 per share

- 2018-10: TWD 24.40 per share

- 2018-11: TWD 24.00 per share

- 2018-12: TWD 24.25 per share

- 2019-01: TWD 25.45 per share

- 2019-02: TWD 25.50 per share

- 2019-03: TWD 25.30 per share

- 2019-04: TWD 24.95 per share

- 2019-05: TWD 24.30 per share

- 2019-06: TWD 24.95 per share

- 2019-07: TWD 24.00 per share

- 2019-08: TWD 23.15 per share

- 2019-09: TWD 23.00 per share

- 2019-10: TWD 23.45 per share

- 2019-11: TWD 23.40 per share

- 2019-12: TWD 23.90 per share

- 2020-01: TWD 23.10 per share

- 2020-02: TWD 23.00 per share

- 2020-03: TWD 18.95 per share

- 2020-04: TWD 20.00 per share

- 2020-05: TWD 19.80 per share

- 2020-06: TWD 20.70 per share

- 2020-07: TWD 19.80 per share

- 2020-08: TWD 19.90 per share

- 2020-09: TWD 20.45 per share

- 2020-10: TWD 20.30 per share

- 2020-11: TWD 22.80 per share

- 2020-12: TWD 24.75 per share

- 2021-01: TWD 22.95 per share

- 2021-02: TWD 24.75 per share

- 2021-03: TWD 25.90 per share

- 2021-04: TWD 39.30 per share

- 2021-05: TWD 36.95 per share

- 2021-06: TWD 39.60 per share

- 2021-07: TWD 36.35 per share

- 2021-08: TWD 38.15 per share

- 2021-09: TWD 36.30 per share

- 2021-10: TWD 33.60 per share

- 2021-11: TWD 32.55 per share

- 2021-12: TWD 35.35 per share

- 2022-01: TWD 33.65 per share

- 2022-02: TWD 36.00 per share

- 2022-03: TWD 38.95 per share

- 2022-04: TWD 36.10 per share

- 2022-05: TWD 34.65 per share

- 2022-06: TWD 28.45 per share

- 2022-07: TWD 27.70 per share

- 2022-08: TWD 28.95 per share

- 2022-09: TWD 26.70 per share

- 2022-10: TWD 26.85 per share

- 2022-11: TWD 29.15 per share

- 2022-12: TWD 29.80 per share

- 2023-01: TWD 31.65 per share

- 2023-02: TWD 31.40 per share

- 2023-03: TWD 30.90 per share

- 2023-04: TWD 29.10 per share

- 2023-05: TWD 29.00 per share

- 2023-06: TWD 29.40 per share

- 2023-07: TWD 27.95 per share

- 2023-08: TWD 26.50 per share

- 2023-09: TWD 25.25 per share

- 2023-10: TWD 24.15 per share

- 2023-11: TWD 26.20 per share

- 2023-12: TWD 27.00 per share

- 2024-01: TWD 25.15 per share

- 2024-02: TWD 24.60 per share

- 2024-03: TWD 23.90 per share

- 2024-04: TWD 24.85 per share

- 2024-05: TWD 23.75 per share

- 2024-06: TWD 23.10 per share

- 2024-07: TWD 23.20 per share

- 2024-08: TWD 22.25 per share

- 2024-09: TWD 23.15 per share

- 2024-10: TWD 22.50 per share

- 2024-11: TWD 21.20 per share

- 2024-12: TWD 19.65 per share

- 2025-01: TWD 20.15 per share

- 2025-02: TWD 24.35 per share

- 2025-03: TWD 22.40 per share

- 2025-04: TWD 20.65 per share

- 2025-05: TWD 19.75 per share

- 2025-06: TWD 18.80 per share

- 2025-07: TWD 19.45 per share

- 2025-08: TWD 20.10 per share

- 2025-09: TWD 19.40 per share

- 2025-10: TWD 18.60 per share

- 2025-11: TWD 18.25 per share

- 2025-12: TWD 19.00 per share

- 2026-01: TWD 20.75 per share

- 2026-02: TWD 20.75 per share

- 2026-03: TWD 18.90 per share

- 2026-04: TWD 18.75 per share

- 2026-05: TWD 19.10 per share

- 2026-06: TWD 18.80 per share

- 2026-07: TWD 18.95 per share

- 2026-08: TWD 18.95 per share

- 2026-09: TWD 19.20 per share

- 2026-10: TWD 19.15 per share

## Annual estimated value (TWD per share)

- FY2016: low TWD 14.67 per share, central TWD 16.45 per share, high TWD 18.82 per share

- FY2017: low TWD 19.46 per share, central TWD 21.93 per share, high TWD 25.22 per share

- FY2018: low TWD 26.03 per share, central TWD 29.40 per share, high TWD 33.88 per share

- FY2019: low TWD 24.01 per share, central TWD 27.09 per share, high TWD 31.18 per share

- FY2020: low TWD 18.56 per share, central TWD 20.90 per share, high TWD 24.01 per share

- FY2021: low TWD 30.63 per share, central TWD 34.56 per share, high TWD 39.78 per share

- FY2022: low TWD 14.29 per share, central TWD 15.95 per share, high TWD 18.15 per share

- FY2023: low TWD 11.30 per share, central TWD 12.70 per share, high TWD 14.57 per share

- FY2024: low TWD 6.62 per share, central TWD 7.34 per share, high TWD 8.29 per share

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

## Sources

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.