On January 21, the China Non-Ferrous Metals Industry Association held a press conference on the 2024 economic performance of China’s non-ferrous metals industry via both offline and online formats. Chen Xuesen, Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee, Vice President and Spokesperson of the China Non-Ferrous Metals Industry Association, briefed the audience on the industry’s performance in 2024 and answered questions from journalists and enterprise representatives together with principals of relevant departments.

Chen Xuesen noted that in 2024, amid mounting external pressures and growing internal challenges, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, enterprises in the non-ferrous metals industry earnestly implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council to stabilize economic growth, adhered to the principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, and fully, accurately and comprehensively applied the new development philosophy. The industrial structure continued to improve, risk prevention was carried out in an orderly and effective manner, the cultivation of new quality productive forces was accelerated, high-quality development advanced steadily, and the industry maintained sound development momentum.

The highlights of the non-ferrous metals industry’s development in 2024 are as follows:

First, the output of ten major non-ferrous metals reached a record high. In 2024, the output of ten major non-ferrous metals stood at 79.19 million tonnes, up 4.3% year-on-year. Among them, refined copper output reached 13.64 million tonnes, up 4.1% year-on-year; electrolytic aluminum output was 44 million tonnes, up 4.6% year-on-year. The metal content of six types of concentrates was 6.12 million tonnes, down 1.2% year-on-year; alumina output reached 85.52 million tonnes, up 3.9% year-on-year; copper products output was 23.5 million tonnes, up 1.7% year-on-year; aluminum products output hit 67.83 million tonnes, up 7.7% year-on-year.

According to statistics from various branch associations of the China Non-Ferrous Metals Industry Association, among new energy metals, industrial silicon output reached 4.975 million tonnes, up 30.4% year-on-year; electrolytic nickel output was 316,000 tonnes, down 0.1% year-on-year; refined cobalt output stood at 180,000 tonnes, up 14% year-on-year; lithium carbonate output hit 715,000 tonnes, up 38% year-on-year.

In 2024, the industrial added value of non-ferrous metals enterprises above designated size rose by 8.9%, 3.1 percentage points higher than the growth rate of the national industrial added value above designated size. Among them, the industrial added value of mining and dressing enterprises increased by 3.7%, and that of smelting and processing enterprises rose by 9.7%, 3.6 percentage points higher than the growth rate of the manufacturing sector.

Second, fixed-asset investment maintained a high growth rate. In 2024, fixed-asset investment in the non-ferrous metals industry increased by 24.7% year-on-year, 12.6 percentage points higher than the growth rate of national industrial investment. Specifically, fixed-asset investment in mining and dressing rose by 26.7% year-on-year, and that in smelting and rolling processing grew by 24.2% year-on-year.

Third, foreign trade maintained annual growth with an optimized trade structure. According to the latest data released by the General Administration of Customs, China’s total import and export volume of non-ferrous metals reached 368.79 billion US dollars in 2024, up 11.4% year-on-year. Of this total, imports amounted to 299.85 billion US dollars, up 10.4% year-on-year, and exports reached 68.94 billion US dollars, up 16.23% year-on-year.

In 2024, the import and export volume of major traded non-ferrous metal products continued the growth trend of previous years. China imported 28.114 million tonnes of copper ore and concentrates cumulatively, up 2.1% year-on-year; imports of unwrought copper and copper products reached 5.684 million tonnes, up 3.4% year-on-year. Exports of unwrought aluminum and aluminum products totaled 6.665 million tonnes, up 17.5% year-on-year.

The import and export volume of new energy metals also grew. Specifically, lithium carbonate imports reached 230,000 tonnes, up 48% year-on-year; exports of unwrought nickel and industrial silicon stood at 120,000 tonnes and 720,000 tonnes respectively, both surging year-on-year; rare earth exports hit 55,000 tonnes, up 6% year-on-year.

Fourth, prices of major non-ferrous metals in the domestic market rose year-on-year in 2024, with the annual average prices of copper and lead hitting a five-year high. In 2024, domestic prices of copper, aluminum, lead and zinc all went up, while prices of industrial silicon and battery-grade lithium carbonate declined. The average spot price of copper in the domestic market was 74,904 yuan per tonne, up 9.7% year-on-year; the average spot price of aluminum was 19,925 yuan per tonne, up 6.5% year-on-year; the average spot price of lead was 17,285 yuan per tonne, up 10.0% year-on-year; the average spot price of zinc was 23,312 yuan per tonne, up 7.8% year-on-year.

Prices of new energy metals fluctuated at the bottom to form a reasonable price range. The average spot price of industrial silicon in the domestic market was 13,000 yuan per tonne, down 15.3% year-on-year; the average spot price of battery-grade lithium carbonate was 91,000 yuan per tonne, down 65.3% year-on-year; the average spot price of nickel was 133,000 yuan per tonne, down 23.1% year-on-year; the average spot price of cobalt was 202,600 yuan per tonne, down 25.9% year-on-year.

Fifth, total profits of non-ferrous metals enterprises above designated size increased significantly year-on-year. Based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics for the first 11 months, total profits of non-ferrous metals industrial enterprises are expected to reach around 420 billion yuan in 2024, up more than 10% year-on-year. From January to November 2024, 11,648 non-ferrous metals industrial enterprises above designated size achieved operating revenue of 8.10847 trillion yuan, up 15.2% year-on-year, and total profits of 388.59 billion yuan, up 20.1% year-on-year. Among them, independent mining enterprises realized total profits of 87.28 billion yuan, up 19.8% year-on-year; smelting enterprises achieved total profits of 214.85 billion yuan, up 30.3% year-on-year; processing enterprises earned total profits of 86.46 billion yuan, up 0.8% year-on-year. From January to November 2024, the operating revenue profit margin of non-ferrous metals industrial enterprises above designated size was 4.8%, up 0.2 percentage points year-on-year; the return on assets was 7.02%, up 0.78 percentage points year-on-year; the asset-liability ratio stood at 60%, down 0.6 percentage points year-on-year.

Chen Xuesen believed that 2024 industry data showed that the non-ferrous metals industry maintained strong resilience and development vitality despite downward pressure on the macro economy, which was attributed to six factors. First, the “new three types” remained the main driver of growth in non-ferrous metals consumption demand, offsetting the decline in non-ferrous metals consumption in the real estate sector. Second, the success of supply-side reform in electrolytic aluminum, the setting of production capacity ceilings and the control of total electrolytic aluminum output made the electrolytic aluminum industry the main contributor to economic growth in the non-ferrous metals sector. Third, the introduction of various policies under the “Two New Initiatives” further boosted market demand for non-ferrous metals, drove the growth of the non-ferrous metals industry and promoted the development of the recycling industry. Since late September 2024, the state had rolled out a package of incremental policies, continuously strengthening new drivers for the development of the non-ferrous metals industry. Fourth, the country’s vigorous cultivation and development of new quality productive forces added new impetus to the non-ferrous metals industry, accelerated its transformation toward high-end, green and intelligent development, and brought enormous opportunities for its growth. Fifth, scientific and technological innovation facilitated industrial upgrading. For instance, through years of continuous scientific and technological research, the non-ferrous metals industry had basically solved “bottleneck” problems in various fields, and high-end materials had basically met the demand for high-performance non-ferrous metals materials from downstream manufacturing industries. The efficient utilization of lateritic nickel ore and technological breakthroughs in lithium salt production from various lithium resources completely resolved resource bottlenecks for the development of power and energy storage battery industries, and greatly enhanced the international competitiveness and sustainable development capacity of China’s non-ferrous metals industry. Sixth, China’s non-ferrous metals industry had continuously deepened international cooperation and exchanges, actively participated in the construction and development of global industrial chains, and achieved fruitful results in enterprises “going global”. It had demonstrated the wisdom, speed and strength of China’s non-ferrous metals professionals on the world stage, making great contributions to the security of global industrial and supply chains, especially the stability of green energy industrial and supply chains.

Chen Xuesen stated that looking ahead to 2025, the non-ferrous metals industry would continue to implement the spirit of the Central Economic Work Conference and fully promote high-quality development of the sector. First, it would continue to adhere to the general principle of “seeking progress while maintaining stability”, seize the opportunity of China’s vigorous efforts to boost consumption and expand domestic demand in all directions, and fully promote stable growth of the non-ferrous metals industry. Second, it would focus on high-quality development. Going forward, the association would continue to advance supply-side reform for various non-ferrous metals products, draw on the successful experience of setting production capacity ceilings and implementing strict capacity replacement for electrolytic aluminum, guide relevant industries to control total volume, avoid excessive involution, further improve industry operation efficiency and raise the level of high-quality development. Third, it would seize the opportunity of the continued implementation of the “Two New Initiatives” to guide enterprises in accelerating transformation and upgrading, and enhance the high-end, intelligent and green development of the industry. Fourth, it would focus on stabilizing foreign trade, take advantage of policy adjustments such as the cancellation of export tax rebates for copper and aluminum products and the implementation of export controls for some rare metal varieties, guide the extension and upgrading of industrial chains, improve product added value and international competitiveness, and promote high-level exports of the industry.

Chen Xuesen noted that 2025 marks the final year of the 14th Five-Year Plan period. The non-ferrous metals industry will firmly focus on the primary task of high-quality development, adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Second and Third Plenary Sessions of the 20th Central Committee, carry out the decisions and arrangements of the Central Economic Work Conference, actively adapt to the requirements of the new era, strengthen confidence in China’s economic development, implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee, successfully accomplish the goals and tasks of the 14th Five-Year Plan, lay a solid foundation for a good start to the 15th Five-Year Plan period, and effectively boost the development of Chinese modernization through the high-quality development of the non-ferrous metals industry.

Source: Compiled from public data