Non-ferrous metal production grows, crude steel output down

China's total production of 10 major non-ferrous metals rose while output of crude steel dipped in the first two months of this year, according to new data from the top economic planner.

Combined output of major non-ferrous metals grew 6.8 percent year on year to reach 7.7 million tonnes in the first two months, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the total profit of the non-ferrous metal industry edged up 1.8 percent year on year to 20.6 billion yuan (3.36 billion U.S. dollars).

The 10 major non-ferrous metals include copper, aluminum, lead and zinc.

In the first two months, the total output of crude steel slipped 1.5 percent from the same period last year to 130.53 million tonnes, while the profit of the iron and steel industry plunged 45.2 percent year on year to 9.03 billion yuan, according to the statement.

The output fluctuations came amid China's efforts to tackle overcapacity, which has plagued China since the 2008 financial crisis.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said last month it will accelerate the overhaul of its overly-invested iron and steel sector to bring it back to a "basically balanced level" by 2017. Endi