Functioning of Major Industries in April     

The production of energies such as coal, power and oil rapidly increased in April. The major raw materials production this April saw a growth faster than the first quarter. The prices of steel and cement kept increasing. Machinery and electronic sectors maintained a high growth. The exports growth in textile and light industry sectors was lower than 10%.


1. Energy sector

The coal output in China was 213 million tons in April, an increase of 13.9% year-on-year and the growth was 0.7 percentage points lower than the first quarter of 2008. The coal output was 782 million tons from January to April, an increase of 14.4% year-on-year. According to customs statistics, the export amount of coal was 14.59 million tons in the first four months of 2008, a drop of 8.1%, the import amount of coal was 14.66 million tons, a drop of 23.7% and the net import amount of coal was 70 000 tons, a drop of 3.28 million tons.
   The power generation amount in April increased 12.8% year-on-year and the growth was 1.2 percentage points lower than the first quarter of 2008. The monthly growth of the thermal power generation amount was 10.1% year-on-year and the growth of the hydraulic power was 27.6%. Guangdong, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces were in short of power. The power generation amount was 1 091 billion kWh in China from January to April, an increase of 14.1% year-on-year and the growth was 1.5 percentage points lower. The growth of the thermal power generation amount was 13% in the first four months and the growth of the hydraulic power generation amount was 16.5%.
   The crude oil output in April increased 0.5% year-on-year. The crude oil processing amount rose 3.6% and the growth was 4.0 percentage points lower than the first quarter of 2008. The growth of the gasoline output was 0.9% and the growth of the diesel output was 5.6%. The natural gas output increased 13.4% year-on-year and the growth was 5.2 percentage points lower than the first quarter of 2008. The crude oil output was 62.22 million tons from January to April, an increase of 1.6% year-on-year. According to customs statistics, the crude oil import amount was 59.77 million tons in the first four months of 2008, an increase of 9.8%. China totally processed 112.23 million tons of crude oil from January to April, an increase of 6.6%. The growth of the gasoline output from January to April was 5.5% and the growth of the diesel output from January to April was 9.8%. The natural gas output from January to April was 25.7 billion m3, an increase of 15.9% year-on-year. For major chemical products, from January to April the ethylene output increased 6.2% year-on-year, the caustic soda output rose 11.4%, the soda ash output increased 14.2%, the chemical fertilizer output increased 6.1% and the pesticide output increased 19.1%.


2. Raw materials

The crude steel output in April increased 10.2% year-on-year and the growth was 1.6 percentage points higher than the first quarter of 2008. The steel products output increased 11.7% and the growth was 0.5 percentage points lower. China exported 4.78 million tons of steel products in April, an increase of 620 000 tons over the previous month. The import amount of steel products was 1.50 million tons in April, a drop of 10 000 tons from the previous month. The price of steel products continued to increase. The comprehensive price index of steel products in the domestic market was 146.48 points at the end of April, being 4.17 points higher than the end of the previous month and 35.32 points higher than the same period of 2007. From January to April, the crude steel output was 169.78 million tons and the steel products output was 192.35 million tons, an increase of 9.1% and 12% respectively and the growth was 12.1 percentage points and 12.4 percentage points higher than the same period of 2007. The import amount of iron sand was 153.49 million tons in the first four months of 2008, an increase of 15.2%. The export amount of steel products of was 16.17 million tons in the first four months of 2008, a drop of 23.9% and the import amount of steel products of was 5.68 million tons, a drop of 2.2%.
   The cement output in April increased 10.8% year-on-year and the growth was 1.6 percentage points higher than the first quarter of 2008. The sheet glass output increased 7.1% and the growth was 5.8 percentage points lower. The prices of cement and sheet glass had some fluctuations. The average ex-factory price of cement in major construction material enterprises was RMB290 per ton in April, an increase of RMB2.0 per ton over the previous month and an increase of RMB6.0 per ton year-on-year. The ex-factory price of sheet glass was RMB68 per box, a drop of RMB1.0 per box over the previous month and an increase of RMB4.0 per box year-on-year. The inventory of cement in major construction material enterprises was 9.86 million tons at the end of April, an increase of 7.7% year-on-year and the inventory of sheet glass was 27.97 million boxes, an increase of 36.7%. The cement output was 382.37 million tons from January to April, an increase of 9.9% and the growth was 4.5 percentage points lower than the same period of 2007. The sheet glass output was 180.13 million boxes from January to April, an increase of 12.6% and the growth was 12.6% lower.
   The output of the ten kinds of nonferrous metals in April increased 17.8% year-on-year and the growth was 9.6 percentage points higher than the first quarter of 2008. The output of copper, electrolytic aluminum, lead and zinc increased 22.7%, 19.2%, 11.7% and 5.3% respectively and the growth was 7.6, 11.3, 9.0 and 1.6 percentage points higher than the first quarter of 2008. The prices of major nonferrous metals dropped slightly. The average price of copper, electrolytic aluminum and zinc spot goods was RMB65 300 per ton, RMB19 000 per ton and 19 200 per ton respectively in April, a drop of 1.7%, 3.6% and 7.4% from the previous month and a drop of 6.2%, 6.7% and 39.5% from the same period of 2007. The price of lead was RMB20 600 per ton, a drop of 5.2% from the previous month and an increase of 31.2% year-on-year. The total output of the ten kinds of nonferrous metals was 8.0 million tons from January to April, an increase of 11.2% year-on-year and the growth was 13.2 percentage points lower. The output of electrolytic aluminum was 4.29 million tons from January to April, an increase of 11.2% and the growth was 26.8 percentage points lower. The output of copper, lead and zinc from January to April increased 17.7%, 7.7% and 3.6%. The output of alumina from January to April was 7.16 million tons, an increase of 18.6%.


3. Machinery and electronic sectors

The added value of the machinery sector in April increased 21.2% year-on-year and the growth was 0.2 percentage points lower than the first quarter of 2008. The export value increased 26.2% and the growth was 2.4 percentage points lower. The output of automobiles increased 22.2% and of the total the output of sedans increased 26.3%. The output of large and medium tractors, environmental protection equipment, power generation equipment and digit-control machine tools increased 50.9%, 30.9%, 28.4% and 23% respectively. The added value of the machinery sector increased 21.4% from January to April and the growth was 1.5 percentage points lower. The export value of the machinery sector was RMB430.4 billion, an increase of 27.3% and the growth was 9.5 percentage points lower. The output of automobiles was 3.59 million in the previous four months of 2008, an increase of 17.4% and of the total the output of sedans was 1.90 million tons, an increase of 17.4%. The output of power generation equipment was 39 120MW, an increase of 20.6% and of the total the output of hydraulic generators increased 45.2%.