File photo shows the rare earth ore.
BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Nonferrous metals companies listed on China's A-share market reported excellent performances in the first half of the year (H1), thanks to the robust demands from downstream users and the pro-cyclical market conditions, the Xinhua-run China Securities Journal reported on Tuesday.
As of Monday, a total of 119 listed companies included in the nonferrous metals industry of SWS Research have disclosed their H1 results, of which 104 companies saw year-on-year growth in net profits, representing about 87 percent of the total, according to Wind, a leading financial information provider in China.
Their combined net profits amounted to about 45.37 billion yuan in H1. On the contrary, a total of 125 companies in the industry achieved total net profits of about 12.56 billion yuan in the same period last year.
Specifically, 53 listed companies in the base metals sector which have disclosed their H1 financial performances achieved a total net profit of about 29.63 billion yuan. In the same period last year, the total net profits of 58 listed companies in the base metals sector amounted to about 8.35 billion yuan.
Zijin Mining (601899.SH; 2899.HK), a leading metal giant in China, achieved a net profit of about 6.65 billion yuan in H1, a year-on-year jump of 174.6 percent.
It attributed the significant growth in net profits to the jump in sales volume and prices of its main mineral products.
According to SMM, a Shanghai-based nonferrous metal portal, on Monday, the average price of electrolytic aluminum was 21,030 yuan/tonne, a year-to-date increase of 34 percent, and that of the electrolytic copper surpassed the 70,000 yuan/tonne mark again recently, an increase of 21 percent during the year so far.
In addition to the base metal companies, those in the rare metal sector also witnessed outstanding performances in H1.
For example, China Northern Rare Earth (Group) High-Tech Co.,Ltd. (600111.SH) realized a net profit of about 2.04 billion yuan in H1, a year-on-year jump of 500.52 percent.
Industry insiders noted that due to the strong demand from downstream sectors such as the new energy vehicle (NEV) industry, the metal prices surged significantly.
In the first seven months of the year, the country's NEV sales totaled nearly 1.48 million units, double the figure from the same period last year, as production and demand continued to recover, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). (Edited by Hu Pingchao with Xinhua Silk Road, hupingchao@xinhua.org)
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