China’s output of non-ferrous metals and alloys rose in March 2020 after the country rapidly resumed operations post the COVID-19 outbreak. Production of primary copper and primary aluminium rose significantly, up by 15.4pc and 9.5pc, respectively.
| China output | March 2020 | March 2019 | Change (%) | Q1 2020 | Q1 2019 | Change (%) |
| Electrolytic copper | 7,71,000mt | 7,05,000mt | 9.4 | 2.3mn mt | 2mn mt | 15 |
| Copper + articles | 1.8mn mt | 1.56mn mt | 15.4 | 3.7mn mt | 3.66mn mt | 1 |
| Electrolytic aluminium | 2.97mn mt | 2.89mn mt | 2.8 | 8.8mn mt | 8.6mn mt | 2.3 |
| Aluminium + articles | 4.6mn mt | 4.2mn mt | 9.5 | 10.5mn mt | 10.4mn mt | 1 |
| Aluminium alloy | 7,27,000mt | 6,89,000mt | 5.5 | 1.66mn mt | 1.72mn mt | 3.6 |
China is now facing the problem of surplus inventories. Demand has recovered in the domestic market but global demand remains weak as economic activities across the world are disrupted by the viral pandemic.