Sanyuan set to suffer first annual loss since 2009

Sanyuan's fresh milk products displayed at a supermarket in Beijing. [Sanyuan's fresh milk products displayed at a supermarket in Beijing. [Chen Xiaogen/China Daily]

Dairy producer Sanyuan Group estimated losses of between 185 million yuan ($30.63 million) to 215 million yuan for 2013, according to a pre-announcement released on Tuesday.

A full-year loss will be Sanyuan's first since 2009.

The Beijing-based dairy group attributed the predicted loss to rising material costs, and a fall in investment.

Sanyuan suffered a loss of 38 million yuan in the first half of the year.

In order to offset growing material costs, Sanyuan raised the price of some products by an average increase of 8 percent.

Other major dairy producers, Mengniu and Guangming, followed Sanyuan's steps in raising prices.

In 2009, Sanyuan acquired Hebei-based Sanlu Group, which went bankrupt after a melamine scandal.