Net Income Down 45% for Nonferrous Metals Industry

China's nonferrous metals industry posted ¥80 billion in net profit in 2008, down 45% from a year earlier, the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association said Thursday. The downturn was principally attributed to production closures and suspensions in the wake of falling prices and the slowing global economy since the second half of last year. "Outputs of major nonferrous metals, including copper, aluminum, lead and zinc, increased 6.7% to 25.2 million metric tons in 2008; the rate was 16.7 percentage points slower than in 2007," association director Kang Yi said, "revenues from those metals racked up ¥2.1 trillion, up 10% on the year before; 73 major smelters reported a combined loss of ¥12.8 billion for the fourth quarter."

$1 = ¥6.8