China's Nonferrous Metal Industry Rallies

BEIJING, June 19 -- China's nonferrous metal industry is showing signs of a pickup, said Jia Yinsong, an official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

According to Jia, the output of ten nonferrous metals arrived at 9.48 million tons in the first five months of this year, down 5.7 percent over the same time last year. However, the output in May registered 3.6 percent increase over April, indicating a recovery.

Copper and aluminum output increased 7.9 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively, to 3.46 million tons and 6.11 million tons from January to May.

Prices of nonferrous metals fluctuated within a small range over the near term, suggesting a stabilized market.

The nation posted increasing electrolytic aluminum imports in view of the different prices between Chinese and global markets.

Investments in the nonferrous metal industry rose 25.8 percent to 82.8 billion yuan in the first five months of this year. The investment structure continued to improve, with those in mineral mining and rolling higher than that in smelting.

Additionally, gold output increased 12 percent in the first five months of this year.

In 2008, China posted 25.2 million tons of ten nonferrous metals output and consumed 25.17 million tons. China's consumption of copper, aluminum, lead, zinc, and nickel accounted for 30 percent of the globe's total consumption.

China's nonferrous metal industry has been suffering from losses since the second half of 2008 due to the global financial crisis.