The second-largest producer of the alloy in Australia, OneSteel Ltd. has announced that its second-half net income has increased because of elevated prices of iron ore.

The Managing Director of OneSteel, Geoff Plummer, said that the Company has completed its six months on June 30 and its net income has reached to A$141 million.

Taking advantage of increased prices of ore after global economic downturn, OneSteel has boosted its output from its iron ore unit.

The Company said that the unit’s annual sales have increased by 31% to A$782 million.

“Iron ore was the major contributor and a key driver for the second-half profit. Chinese demand for iron ore continued to increase and was strong for most of the last financial year”, the Company said.

Normally, as much as 6 million tons of iron ore is being sold by the Company from its South Australia’s operation and it is hoping to increase its output to 6.5 million tons.

AG analyst Michael Slifirski from Credit Suisse Group has said that increasing prices of raw material have proved good for OneSteel, which is considered as the most reliable industry for producing steel.

It has been reported that OneSteel has made 12% gain in full-year profit to A$258 million and analysts were expecting that annual profit of the Company will rise to A$244 million.