China Nov copper output highest in 5 months
Mon Dec 15, 2008 1:07pm EST
reuters.com
By Polly Yam
HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's copper production in November rose more than 12 percent from October to its highest in five months as a handful of major smelters increased output despite low prices and seemingly weak demand.
But production in the world's top consumer of the metal was still down 2.3 percent from a year ago amid a swift slowdown in industrial output from China to its slowest pace in at least nine years in November.
The country produced 330,200 tonnes of refined copper in November, the highest since June, data issued by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday showed. Preliminary October output was 293,900 tonnes.
"Yunnan Copper (000878.SZ: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) increased production in November after it conducted repairs in October," said Zhu Yanzhong, analyst at Jinrui Futures, a subsidiary the parent of Jiangxi Copper Co Ltd (2600.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(600362.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).
He added Dongying Fangyuan, which started a new facility in the fourth quarter, had also increased production in November from the previous month.
In the first 11 months, output was up 9.6 percent to 3.4 million tonnes.
November's output in China had risen, even though scrap supply was unreliable due to sharp price falls, Zhu said.
Analysts and traders had expected November refined copper output to fall by around 10,000 tonnes from October's output.
MORE LEAD AS WELL
The world's top producer of lead, aluminium and tin produced 315,600 tonnes of refined lead in November, up 22.6 percent on the year, the official data showed.
Output was down 10.9 percent from October. The bureau did not revise the preliminary October output of 354,300 tonnes, about which analysts and smelter officials had expressed doubts.
An official at the statistics department of state-funded China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association said the state bureau might have mistakenly picked a figure from a new zinc facility and used it as lead output in October.
She added the association believed lead output had been just below 300,000 tonnes in October.
Smelter officials said demand for lead was rising slightly as battery makers, the top users of lead in China, increased buying due to low prices. This may support output in December.
China produced just more than 1 million tonnes of aluminium in November, down 6.7 percent both from a year earlier and the previous month. In the first 11 months output rose 9 percent to 12.2 million tonnes.
Yearly output rates started falling in October for the first time in years as smelters have slowed production, amid low prices and weak domestic demand.
Output may be flat or rise in December, given lower prices of the metal's raw materials such as electricity, alumina and coal, smelter officials said.
Tin output fell 11.2 percent from a year earlier and 29.7 percent from the previous month to 11,418 tonnes in November. Output may fall further in December, given Yunnan Tin (000960.SZ: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the top producer, shut down its sole smelting facility last week.
The facility may not resume production until February, a company official said last week.
To see a table of November output, please click on [nBJI000124]
Below is revised November 2007 metal output, compared with preliminary data from the statistics bureau, in tonnes.
Metal Revised Released on Dec 13, 2007
Copper 337,900 334,000
Lead 257,500 251,200
Zinc 351,900 350,400
Tin 12,865 12,978
Nickel 9,144 #
Aluminium 1,088,100 1,131,500
#Not available
(Editing by Michael Urquhart) |
