Posted on 05 May 2022
In the first quarter of this year, China's nonferrous metals industry maintained stable operations on the whole, with major economic indicators performing better than expected, Jia Mingxing, vice president and secretary-general of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNIA), noted at a virtual press conference on April 28.
Sizable Chinese nonferrous firms saw their gross profits jump by 56.1% on year to total Yuan 101.2 billion ($15.3 billion) during this year's Q1, among which smelting and processing enterprises posted a 52.9% on-year surge in profits to Yuan 16.6 billion, according to the CNIA data.
Over January-March, China's fixed asset investment in the nonferrous sector gained by 10.7% on year. Within the total, fixed asset investment in nonferrous smelting and processing rose by 9.4% on year, while that for nonferrous mining rose more substantially by 18.2% on year, the new data showed.
"Prices of nonferrous metals in the international market were significantly higher than those in the domestic market," Jia commented. For example, the three-month aluminum contract on the London Metal Exchange averaged $3,255/tonne in Q1, up 54.9% on year, while China's domestic aluminum spot price averaged Yuan 22,210/t, up 37.1% on year.
Total domestic production of the ten major nonferrous metals, including aluminum and copper, inched up by 0.9% on year to 16.17 million tonnes over January-March, as reported.
During this quarter, nonferrous metals prices may be rangebound at high levels, Jia predicted, as the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the US Federal Reserve's monetary policies are affecting markets. Nickel prices will gradually return to fundamentals, he noted, while lithium carbonate may also retreat from high levels.
As for this year's first half, Jia anticipated that China's production of the ten major nonferrous metals would grow by about 2% on year to above 33 million tonnes, and domestic sizable enterprises may see their gross profits grow by as much as 20% on year to reach Yuan 200 billion.
In parallel over January-June, the country's fixed asset investment in the nonferrous sector is expected to grow by 5%-8% on year, Jia added.
Source:Mysteel Global
