China's copper and aluminium output hits record high in August

The mainland's production of refined copper and primary aluminium hit record highs in August as the world's top producer continued to build new capacity.

High production on the mainland, also the world's top consumer of the two metals, could cut demand for imports.

Refined copper production rose 7.4 per cent in August from July to 680,128 tonnes, beating the record 654,803 tonnes in November 2013, National Bureau of Statistics data showed.

Output in August was 20.16 per cent higher than a year before. In the first eight months, output rose 11.17 per cent from the same period last year to 4.93 million tonnes.

Increased supply of raw material concentrates and new capacity had pushed up production of refined copper, said Xu Hongping, an analyst at China Merchants Futures.

"More new capacity is expected to come onstream in the second half than the first half. Output should be rising," Xu said.

Imports of copper ores and concentrate rose 6.7 per cent in August from July to 960,000 tonnes. In the first eight months, imports rose 14.3 per cent year on year.