China's total non-ferrous metal output reached 13.29 million tons in the first 10 months this year, up 17.6 per cent year-on-year, according to a work conference held in Nanchang, capital of east China's Jiangxi Province.
It is expected that China will produce 16 million tons of non-ferrous metals this year, ranking it first in the world for the fourth consecutive year. China has been the world's major producer, consumer and trading country of non-ferrous metals.

Kang Yi, president of China Non-ferrous Metal Industry Association, said that during the first 10 months this year, non-ferrous metal enterprises each with an annual sales income of 5 million yuan (US$620,000) realized the total sales income of 638.59 billion yuan, 80.8 billion yuan more than that of last year; total taxes of 66.19 billion yuan, 13.2 billion yuan more than that of last year; and total profits of 42.49 billion yuan, 10.1 billion yuan more than that of last year.

The president forecasted that these enterprises will generate the total sales income of 770 billion yuan, total taxes of 80 billion yuan and total profits of 50 billion yuan in 2005.

According to Kang Yi, the country will have 40 non-ferrous metal firms each with an annual sales volume exceeding 2 billion yuan in 2005 as against 32 firms last year, and 20 firms each with an annual profit exceeding 200 million yuan.

Source: Asia Pulse

The U.S. trade deficit widened 11% to a record $66.1 billion in September, and the politically sensitive gap with China surged.

The Commerce Department reported the numbers Thursday.

The overall deficit came in larger than forecast after a Boeing strike crimped aircraft exports while hurricanes curbed agricultural exports and boosted petroleum import prices.

With the deficit boosted by such one-time factors, the nation's growing trade gap with China drew the most attention -- particularly ahead of President Bush's visit to Beijing next week.

The $20.1 billion China deficit will likely strengthen U.S. complaints that China has kept the yuan artificially low against the dollar, hurting U.S. exports.

On Tuesday, Bush called the U.S.-China gap "bothersome" and said he plans to tell the Chinese president that his country "should continue to advance toward market-based" valuation of the yuan.

Bush's visit will follow Treasury Secretary John Snow's trip in October, when he pressed Beijing to revalue its currency to stave off congressional efforts to slap tariffs on Chinese imports.

"The domestic pressure really looks like it did in the 1980s with Japan," said Geoffrey Garrett, president of the Pacific Council on International Policy. The sentiment is "the currency is unfairly valued, there's an unfair trade balance."

The U.S. and China this week agreed to let China boost textile shipments somewhat, but they'll still face major restrictions.

Some currency experts think China will soon loosen the yuan's currency band further, which should lift its value vs. those of its trading partners. Chinese officials have stressed that any changes will be made at their own pace.

Stocks shrugged off the deficit news and rallied after a successful 10-year Treasury note auction. That eased fears -- sparked by a weak Wednesday debt auction -- that foreign investors are losing their appetite for U.S. debt.

The S&P 500 rose 0.8%, and the Nasdaq 1%. The 10-year Treasury yield sank 9 basis points to 4.56%.

The greenback, sensitive to trade news, also dismissed the report and continued its climb against the yen and euro.

A higher trade deficit is usually bad news for the dollar. Indeed, from 2002 to 2004, the dollar declined as the trade gap ballooned.

"The headline looks dreadful, and you'd expect the dollar to fall in this environment," said Alan Wilde, director of fixed income and currency at Baring Asset Management in London.

Some demand likely comes from U.S. companies taking advantage of the Homeland Investment Act to repatriate their overseas earnings at a low tax rate, said Wilde.

What's more, the Federal Reserve's rate hikes have attracted yield-seeking investors to U.S. assets. The trade-weighted dollar has climbed 13% this year. The greenback has hit two-year highs against the euro and yen.

Foreign appetite for U.S. assets has helped the U.S. finance its huge current account gap. At some point, economists say, that will have to reverse.

But a "hard landing" for the dollar or U.S. economy is unlikely, said St. Louis Fed President William Poole on Wednesday.

In September's trade report, exports fell 2.6%. The Boeing strike cut $2.4 billion from aircraft, while closed Gulf of Mexico ports disrupted grain shipments.

Imports rose 2.4%, lifted by higher oil prices and foreign aircraft.

Source: Yahoo News