Minmetals Development Co Ltd — which is headquartered in Beijing and sells steel products, steel billets, iron ore, coal and coke — reported a loss of about 350 million yuan ($56.26 million) in 2012, the first loss since the company was listed in 1997, it said on Thursday in a report.

The company's net profit in 2011 was 538 million yuan, up 39.76 percent year-on-year.

The report attributed the losses to the lackluster global economic recovery and China's economic slowdown, in addition to the worsening market environment and sluggish steel industry.