In the first half of the year, despite a complex international economic environment and significant downward pressure on the domestic economy, China’s nonferrous metals industry maintained an overall stable operational trend.

　　 First, production is showing a steady and moderate growth trend. In the first half of the year, the output of ten nonferrous metals reached 25.2658 million tons, representing a year-on-year increase of 9.32%. The growth rate was 3.92 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year. Among them, refined copper production totaled 3.7783 million tons, up 9.39% year-on-year; primary aluminum production reached 15.6082 million tons, an increase of 11.69% year-on-year; lead production stood at 2.0483 million tons, down 3.49% year-on-year; and zinc production amounted to 3.0702 million tons, up 13.4% year-on-year. Copper product output (including output counted repeatedly across enterprises) was 8.7608 million tons, up 4.23% year-on-year; aluminum product output (including output counted repeatedly across enterprises) was 24.6757 million tons, up 10.18% year-on-year; and alumina production reached 28.2201 million tons, up 13.05% year-on-year.

　　 Second, the growth rate of fixed-asset investment has slowed down. In the first half of the year, the nonferrous metals industry (excluding independent gold enterprises, the same applies hereinafter) cumulatively completed fixed-asset investments totaling 310.048 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 2.19%. The growth rate declined by 4.39 percentage points compared to the same period last year. Among these, fixed-asset investments in nonferrous metal mining projects reached 45.759 billion yuan, down 7.31% year-on-year; fixed-asset investments in nonferrous metal smelting projects totaled 81.022 billion yuan, down 3.50% year-on-year; and fixed-asset investments in nonferrous metal processing projects amounted to 183.268 billion yuan, up 7.76% year-on-year.

　　 Third, the value of imports and exports of non-ferrous metals declined. In the first half of the year, China’s total trade volume in non-ferrous metals (excluding trade in gold jewelry and parts) reached 56.1 billion U.S. dollars, a decrease of 10.7% year-on-year. Specifically: imports totaled 41.46 billion U.S. dollars, down 15.7% year-on-year; exports amounted to 14.65 billion U.S. dollars, up 7.0% year-on-year. The trade deficit stood at 26.81 billion U.S. dollars, a decrease of 24.4% year-on-year.

　　 Fourth, prices of nonferrous metals have fallen. In the first half of the year, the average prices of copper, aluminum, and lead in the domestic market were RMB 43,300 per ton, RMB 13,000 per ton, and RMB 12,900 per ton, respectively, down 12.4%, 1.7%, and 7.0% year-on-year. The average price of zinc in the domestic market was RMB 16,500 per ton, up 7.8% year-on-year but down 2.3% compared to the second half of last year.