The growth rate for the value of imports and exports in China's nonferrous metals industry dropped by 20.5 percent in the first two months of 2012 year-on-year.

That brought the total value of trade in that industry to $24.71 billion for the period, a gloomy sign for the economy, a senior official said.

According to statistics provided by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association on Wednesday, the value of the country's imports and exports was only 8.7 percent higher in January and February than in the same months a year ago. The comparable growth figure for 2011 was 30 percent.

The decrease was the result of drops in domestic output and overseas demand and an increase in the number of trade disputes in the industry, said Jia Mingxing, secretary-general of the association.

He estimated that both the domestic demand for nonferrous metals and production of those metals in China will increase steadily this year, but the value of imports and exports of the materials will rise at a slower rate.

"The world's economic recovery remains weak, which will greatly influence the nonferrous metals industry this year," said Chen Quanxun, chairman of the association. "The competition in the industry in the international market is getting fierce while new emerging economies are developing rapidly."

He estimated that the average price of nonferrous metals this year may be slightly lower than it was in 2011.

To reflect economic realities and help companies in the industry avoid risks, the association is working on the country's first composite index of nonferrous metals, which will be introduced by the end of the year.

The index will initially be calculated using one or two types of metals that are produced in large quantities or have high prices. It will gradually take into account other kinds of nonferrous metals.

"It is possible to have a price index or industrial prosperity index," he said. "The National Bureau of Statistics has been giving us technological support, but the details of the index are not decided yet."

The index will be calculated using data from output, sales, prices, and imports and exports reported by domestic nonferrous metal producers and traders, according to previous interviews with the association.

Meanwhile, Chen said Chinese companies are being encouraged to seek resources abroad and thus help secure the country's supply of mineral resources.

"China's dependence on foreign resources has been increasing in recent years," he said. "Chinese mining companies' businesses in foreign countries are still just starting and are small in scale and have few resources. They are lagging far behind foreign companies."

He said the current oversupply of aluminum and lead in the international market will be reduced, but the oversupply of zinc will continue.

China's total imports and exports of nonferrous metal in 2011 came to more than $160 billion, showing a 28 percent growth rate year-on-year.

Data show that China produced 34.38 million metric tons of 10 types of nonferrous metals in 2011, an increase of 9.8 percent from the year before.

dujuan@chinadaily.com.cn