en.Wedoany.com Reported - In the first quarter of 2026, China's nonferrous metals industry achieved a stable start, with continuous growth in the output of major products, high-level price operation, significantly improved industry efficiency, and sustained positive momentum in investment and import-export trade.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the added value of the nonferrous metals mining and dressing industry, as well as the smelting and rolling processing industry, increased by 2.9% and 2.5% year-on-year respectively, slightly lower than the overall industrial growth rate. The output of ten commonly used nonferrous metals reached 20.532 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%. Among them, the output of refined copper, electrolytic aluminum, and copper products was 3.785 million tons, 11.413 million tons, and 5.633 million tons respectively, representing year-on-year increases of 9.3%, 3.1%, and 4%; the output of aluminum products was 15.248 million tons, a slight year-on-year decrease of 1.9%.
In terms of prices, major metal varieties showed an upward trend. According to data from the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, the average prices of copper, aluminum, tin, cobalt, and lithium carbonate in the first quarter increased by 30.5%, 17.3%, 48.6%, 135.0%, and 98.9% year-on-year respectively; the average prices of gold and silver rose by 62.7% and 167.0% year-on-year respectively. Benefiting from high-level price operation, the operating revenues of the nonferrous metals mining and dressing industry and the smelting and rolling processing industry reached 130.09 billion yuan and 2,691.69 billion yuan respectively, representing year-on-year increases of 39.4% and 26.6%; total profits were 50.87 billion yuan and 141.98 billion yuan respectively, with year-on-year growth rates of 95.6% and 116.7%.
Fixed asset investment continued its growth momentum. Fixed asset investment in the nonferrous metals mining and dressing industry increased by 56.0% year-on-year, 50.2 percentage points higher than the national industrial average; while fixed asset investment in the nonferrous metals smelting and rolling processing industry increased by 3.7% year-on-year, 2.1 percentage points lower than the industrial average.
In terms of import and export, enterprises increased raw material imports to meet domestic production needs. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, bauxite imports in the first quarter reached 57.97 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 23.6%; imports of copper ore and concentrate reached 7.56 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 6.6%; lithium carbonate imports reached 83,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 64.6%. Meanwhile, exports of unwrought aluminum and aluminum products reached 1.46 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 6.5%, showing a clear recovery in the growth trend of aluminum product exports.
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