SHANGHAI, Aug 2 (SMM) - On July 29, 2022, the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association held a video press conference on the economic performance of the nonferrous metals industry in the first half of 2022, and released a list of Top 50 Nonferrous Metals Enterprises in terms of revenue and Top 20 Nonferrous Metals Enterprises in terms of overseas assests in 2021. This is the first time that the China Nonferrous Metals Association has ranked the nonferrous metal enterprises based on their overseas assets and calculated internationalization index according to international practice. The spokesperson of the Association said at the conference that the overall economic performance of nonferrous metals industry was improving in the first half of 2022. 

To sum up, the improvement is mainly reflected in five aspects. 

First, the overall production of nonferrous metals remained stable, and the output of primary aluminium has returned to positive growth. In the first half of 2022, the output of ten commonly used nonferrous metals totalled 32.833 million mt, a year-on-year increase of 1.0%, which was 0.1 percentage points higher than that of the first quarter. The output of refined copper was 5.333 million mt, up 2.5% on the year, and that of primary aluminium was 19.68 million mt, up 0.7% YoY from down 0.3% YoY in the first quarter. The industrial added value of nonferrous metals enterprises above designated size increased 5.0% year-on-year in the first half year, 1.2 percentage points higher than in that in the first quarter. Among them, the industrial added value of mining and dressing enterprises increased 10.8%, while that of smelters and processing enterprises increased 4.1%. 

Second, the growth rate of fixed asset investment exceeded 10%. In the first half of the year, the fixed asset investment in the nonferrous metals industry rose 10.9% year-on-year, 0.2 percentage point higher than the annual growth rate in the first quarter, and 8 percentage points higher than the average growth rate of the H1 in 2021 and 2022. Among them, the fixed asset investment of mining and dressing enterprises advanced 12.5%, while that of smelters and rolling processing enterprises added 10.6%. 

Third, the import and export volumes of main nonferrous metals were on the rise. In the first half of the year, copper concentrate imports stood at 12.481 million mt in physcial content, with a year-on-year growth of 8.6% which was 1.9 percentage points higher than that the first quarter; the import volume of unwrought copper and copper semis was 2.942 million mt, a year-on-year increase of 5.3%, 2.7 percentage points higher compared with the YoY growth rate of the first quarter; the import volume of bauxite was 65.2 million mt, an increase of 18.1% year-on-year, 2.2 percentage points lower than the YoY increase of the first quarter. During the same period, the export volume of unwrought aluminium and aluminium semis amounted to 3.509 million mt, a year-on-year increase of 34.1%, which was 7.4 percentage points higher than that in the first quarter; the export volume of rare earth was 260,000 mt, up 10.1% YoY, which was 3.6 percentage points higher than the YoY growth rate of the first quarter. 

Fourth, the prices of major nonferrous metals rose before falling in domestic and overseas markets. At the end of June, the LME three-month copper and aluminium futures closed at $8,258/mt and $2,445.5/mt respectively, down 20.4% and 29.9% from the closing prices at the end of March respectively. In June, the average spot prices of copper in the domestic market was 69,416 yuan/mt, down 4,866 yuan/mt or 6.6% from the highest in April. In the first half of the year, the average prices of copper in the domestic spot market was 71,750 yuan/mt, up 7.7% from the same period last year, which 6.6 percentage points lower than that in the first quarter. In June, the average spot prices of aluminium in the domestic market was 19,974 yuan/mt, down 2,781 yuan/mt or 12.2% from the highest in February. In the first half of the year, the average prices of aluminium in the domestic spot market was 21,435 yuan/mt, up 23.0% from the same period last year, which 14.1 percentage points lower than that in the first quarter. 

Fifth, the nonferrous metals enterprises above designated size sustained profit growth in the first half of the year though the growth rate was slow. The revenues of nonferrous metals enterprises above designated size increased stood at 3,972.09 billion yuan in the first half year, up 18.6% year-on-year, which 5.8 percentage points lower than in that in the first quarter. 

The spokesperson also suggested that the nonferrous metal industry was expected to maintain steady growth in the second half year. Overall, the global economic growth rate is expected to further slow down, with high inflation and increasing risk of stagflation. However, to rise to the challenges posed by the severe and complex international market, the Chinese government is expected to introduce a series of policies to stabilise the economy, which will support the domestic economy to improve gradually in the second half year.