Non-ferrous metal output rises

BEIJING - China's non-ferrous metal production continued to rise at a fast pace in October, highlighting the industry's lingering overcapacity problem, new official data showed.

Combined output of 10 major non-ferrous metal expanded 12.9 percent year-on-year in October, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a latest statement.

The 10 major non-ferrous metals include copper, aluminum, lead, zinc, nickel, stannum, antimony, mercury, magnesium and titanium.

In the first 10 months, total output rose 10.3 percent from the same period of last year to 33.34 million tons, 2.6 percentage points faster than a year earlier, the statement said.

Excessive production capacity has been a chronic problem for the sector, and the NDRC has said in a previous statement the sector should strictly control total production and intensify efforts of eliminating overcapacity in the latter half of the year.

Despite fast output growth, the industry's total profit dropped 6.8 percent year-on-year during the first three quarters to 121.5 billion yuan ($19.81 billion), according to the statement.