The non-ferrous metals industry maintained steady progress in the first three quarters.

On October 29, the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNFIA) held a press conference, where Chen Xuesen, Standing Committee Member of the CNFIA Party Committee, Vice President, and Spokesperson, announced the economic performance of the nonferrous metals industry in the first three quarters of 2025. Lin Ruhai, Deputy Secretary-General of CNFIA and Director of the Policy Research Office and Planning Research Office, and Duan Shaofu, Deputy Secretary-General of CNFIA and Director of the Heavy Metals Department and Mineral Resources Office, were also present. Feng Yuncong, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of China Nonferrous Metals News, presided over the meeting.

In the first three quarters, the nonferrous metals industry operated smoothly overall, with industrial added value, output of ten nonferrous metals, fixed asset investment, realized profits, and total import and export trade all maintaining rapid growth.

Firstly, nonferrous metal production saw steady progress. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the added value of the large-scale nonferrous metals industry increased by 7.8% year-on-year in the first three quarters, 1.6 percentage points higher than the national average growth rate of the added value of large-scale industries. The output of ten commonly used non-ferrous metals reached 61.249 million tons, with the growth rate continuing to expand compared to the first half of the year, increasing by 3.0% year-on-year. Refined copper and electrolytic aluminum accounted for 18.2% and 55.5% of the total output of these ten metals, respectively. By product category, refined copper output was 11.125 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 10.0%; electrolytic aluminum output was 33.968 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 2.2%. The output of six mineral ores was 4.781 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.2%; alumina output was 68.56 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 8.4%; copper product output was 18.575 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 9.6%; and aluminum product output was 49.768 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 0.04%.

According to statistics from various branches of the association, among new energy metals, industrial silicon output was 3.328 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 10.8%; electrolytic nickel output was 347,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 50.6%; refined cobalt output was 134,000 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 3.7%; and lithium carbonate output was 588,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 28.0%.

Second, fixed asset investment in mining maintained substantial growth, while the growth rate of fixed asset investment in smelting and rolling processing slowed. In the first three quarters, fixed asset investment in the non-ferrous metals industry increased by 10.1% year-on-year, 3.7 percentage points higher than the national industrial investment growth rate. Specifically, fixed asset investment in mining and beneficiation increased by 49.3% cumulatively, while fixed asset investment in smelting and rolling processing increased by 0.4%.

Private investment was fully unleashed, with private fixed asset investment in my country's non-ferrous metals sector increasing by 7.9% year-on-year. Private investment in non-ferrous metal mining and beneficiation increased by 36.6% year-on-year, while private investment in smelting and rolling processing increased by 0.8% year-on-year.

Third, total foreign trade continued to grow. In the first three quarters, the total import and export trade volume of non-ferrous metals reached US$305.66 billion, an increase of 13.4% year-on-year. Imports amounted to US$244.94 billion, an increase of 11.9% year-on-year; exports reached US$60.72 billion, an increase of 19.8% year-on-year. The increase in exports was mainly driven by gold products.

Among major import and export products, imports of copper ore and its concentrates reached 22.63 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 7.7%; bauxite imports reached 157.31 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 32.0%; imports of unwrought copper and copper products reached 4.02 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 1.7%; and exports of unwrought aluminum and aluminum products reached 4.52 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 8.1%.

The import and export volumes of major new energy metals maintained growth. Lithium carbonate imports reached 173,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 5.2%; unwrought nickel exports reached 136,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 67.3%; industrial silicon exports reached 562,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 2.3%; and rare earth exports reached 48,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 12.6%.

Fourth, prices of traditional industrial metals such as copper and aluminum, as well as precious metals, strengthened, while prices of new energy metals weakened. The price increases of major traditional industrial metals were influenced by a combination of factors, including supply-side disruptions, economic stimulus policies, geopolitical tensions, and production costs. In the first three quarters, the average price of copper in the domestic spot market was 78,285 yuan/ton, up 4.8% year-on-year; aluminum was 20,446 yuan/ton, up 3.7% year-on-year; lead was 16,939 yuan/ton, down 2.6% year-on-year; and zinc was 22,951 yuan/ton, up 1.6% year-on-year. Driven by safe-haven demand, the average price of gold in China was 745.4 yuan/gram, up 41.0% year-on-year.

New energy metals generally faced downward price pressure, but the rate of decline narrowed to varying degrees. In the first three quarters of the domestic spot market, the average price of industrial silicon was 10,000 yuan/ton, a year-on-year decrease of 27.0%; the average price of battery-grade lithium carbonate was 71,000 yuan/ton, a year-on-year decrease of 27.8%; the average price of nickel was 126,000 yuan/ton, a year-on-year decrease of 7.5%; and the average price of cobalt was 236,000 yuan/ton, a year-on-year increase of 11.2%.

Fifth, the revenue and profits of large-scale non-ferrous metal enterprises continued to maintain rapid growth. In the first three quarters, large-scale non-ferrous metal industrial enterprises achieved operating revenue of 7,398.01 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.6%; and total profits of 345.15 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.7%. Among them, the non-ferrous mining and beneficiation industry achieved total profits of 92.64 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 33.8%, and the smelting and rolling processing industry achieved total profits of 252.52 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.0%. The operating profit margin of large-scale non-ferrous metal industrial enterprises was 4.7%, an increase of 0.16 percentage points year-on-year; the operating profit margin of non-ferrous mining and beneficiation was 30.2%, an increase of 4.4 percentage points year-on-year; the operating profit margin of smelting and processing was 3.6%, a decrease of 0.02 percentage points year-on-year; the return on assets was 7.3%, an increase of 0.85 percentage points year-on-year; and the asset-liability ratio was 59.6%, a decrease of 0.97 percentage points year-on-year.

Regarding the characteristics of the industry's operation, Chen Xuesen pointed out that since 2025, my country's non-ferrous metal industry has demonstrated strong resilience in a complex environment. First, the strategic significance of the rare metal control policy is prominent. This policy has effectively safeguarded national resource security, prevented strategic resources from flowing to areas that threaten national security, and promoted the upgrading of the industrial structure to the high end of the value chain, significantly enhancing my country's voice and influence in global resource governance. Second, the key mineral resource security system has been continuously strengthened. In response to the industry bottleneck of insufficient resource security, the vast majority of non-ferrous metal enterprises have actively responded, focusing on increasing investment in exploration in key domestic metallogenic belts, deepening cooperation with resource-rich countries along land routes, and striving to build a resource security system that is "domestic-based and supplemented by overseas resources." Third, the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNFIA) effectively played its role as a bridge and link. By ensuring smooth information feedback channels, it promptly reported prominent issues in the industry's operation to relevant national departments, promoting the formation of a collaborative working mechanism between government and enterprises and between different levels of government. Based on a systematic summary of the successful experience of supply-side structural reform in electrolytic aluminum, it actively cooperated in promoting supply-side structural reform in other metal varieties, guiding the industry towards rational development and curbing disorderly competition characterized by "involution."

Chen Xuesen stated that the annual growth rate of the added value of the nonferrous metals industry is expected to be around 6%, with the annual output of ten commonly used nonferrous metals reaching approximately 80 million tons. Positive progress has been made in the development of domestic resources such as copper, aluminum, and lithium, with recycled metal output exceeding 20 million tons. Prices of commonly used nonferrous metals such as copper and aluminum are expected to remain high and volatile, while prices of industrial silicon and lithium carbonate remain at low levels. Imports of copper concentrate and bauxite are expected to continue to grow, while exports of aluminum materials and products are expected to decline. The operating revenue of large-scale nonferrous metal industrial enterprises is expected to approach 10 trillion yuan, with total profits reaching approximately 450 billion yuan, both of which are expected to set new historical records, enabling the successful completion of the "14th Five-Year Plan" industry development goals.