China's voracious appetite for base metals resulted in a 19% increase in the production of nonferrous metals last year, buoyed by especially strong domestic demand for copper and aluminum. The China Nonferrous Metal Industry Association says production of 10 fundamental nonferrous metals reached 12.05 million tons last year. This made China the world's biggest nonferrous metals producer for a second straight year. (China also is the largest global steelmaker.)

The nation's copper output grew by 12.7% to 1.84 million tons in 2003, according to industry statistics, while 5.56 million tons of aluminum were produced last year, a jump of 26.9% from a year earlier. Output of the nation's finished copper products shot up by 32.6% year-on-year to 3.3 million tons last year. Finished aluminum products reached 3.6 million tons, up 33.3%. Overall, China now consumes one-third of the metals produced in the world (the U.S. is No. 2, with 20%).

The metal association's president, Kang Yi, says China's mounting demand for nonferrous metals—which also includes zinc, lead, nickel, tin, mercury, magnesium, anti-mony and titanium sponge— allowed the sector's sales and profits to reach record highs last year. Total sales of nonferrous metal manufacturers in China increased by 31% to 360.34 billion yuan (US$43.51 billion) last year.

The industry's profits totaled 15.09 billion yuan (US$1.82 billion) last year, up 84% from 2002. State-owned nonferrous metal manufacturers reported 8.16 billion yuan (US$985.51 million) in profits last year, surging 132.7% from a year earlier. "Other factors contributing to the jump in the industry's profits include the improvement of manufacturers' corporate governance and listings, and price hikes in nonferrous metal prices," said Wang Huajun, an association economist.

China also imported a large volume of nonferrous metals, finished products and raw materials to meet domestic demand last year. The value of nonferrous metal imports totaled US$15.22 billion in 2003, an increase of 39% from 2002. The value of imported copper, finished products and copper concentrate rose by 29.5% from the year previous to US$8.22 billion.