Posted on 07 May 2021
For 2021, China’s nonferrous sector is likely to experience a pattern of stabilizing after growths in the first few months, Jia Mingxing, vice president and secretary-general of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, shared at a press conference on April 29.
The 2021 projection is on the condition of no “black swan events”, he highlighted, adding, “for the second quarter and rest of the year, global economy may pick up the pace in recovery, though fluctuation and divergence will remain the them, and both inflation and interest rates should be closely watched.”
“In the context of a faster global economic recovery, exports may remain rather encouraging, and the domestic economic recovery may further solidify, but imports inflation may persist in China’s financial operations, and risks and problems may emerge together with the transiting towards greener development,” he added.
Over January-March, the industry posted the highest Q1 gross profit in a decade, with the gross profits among the sizable nonferrous enterprises approximated Yuan 65.2 billion ($10.1 billion), up 3.4 times on year or up 70.3% on year on average in two years, and their industrial added value grew 13.2% on year, or up 4.2% on year on average in two years, the official data showed.
Among the total, the sizable smelting and processing enterprises posted a 14.3% on-year growth in their added value, higher than the 6.4% for the sizeable nonferrous mining and processing enterprises, similarly, the country’s fixed asset investment in the smelting and processing sector grew 24.6% on year in Q1, higher than the industry’s average growth at 21.1% on year or much higher than the 3.9% on-year growth in mining projects, the data showed.
Throughout the first three months, the prices of copper and aluminum had been hovering high both at home abroad, with the average copper price averaging Yuan 62,600/tonne, or just inches below the highest in the 21st century that appeared in 2011 when the annual average was at Yuan 66,333/t, according to the association.
As for aluminum, China’s spot price averaged Yuan 16,201/t, approaching Yuan 16,873/t on average for 2011, but still miles away from the highest in the 21st century that appeared in 2006 when the annual average reached Yuan 20,114/t.
As of April 29, the three-month copper buyer price on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was assessed at $9,983/t, hitting a 10-year high or up $160.5/t on day.
In the first quarter, China’s ten major nonferrous metals grew 11.7% on year to about 16 million tonnes, or up 7.5% on year on average in two years, according to the official data.
Source:Mysteel Global
