r1000,0(,y,) 1,200,000 1,400,000 1,500,000 
 r400000 r5(yJ,000 600,000 650,000 
 200,000 250,000 300,000 330,000 
 12,000 12,000 13,000 15,000 
 r150 r150 300 350 
   120 120 
 100,000 100,000 150,000 150,000 
 
100,000 
 
 
150,000 
 
 
r800(y,) 
100,000 
150,000 
r100,000 
150,000 
200,000 
150,000 
150,000 
200,000 
200,000 
r450(yJ 
T220® 
50,000 
~25,050 
70,000 
~34,790 
75,000 ~36,700 
 190 230 310 340 
 100 110 150 160 
 5 5 8 10 
 60 70 90 90 
 25 35 42 50 
 380 450 600 650 
See footnotes at end of table.238 
MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1978-79 
 
press. For 1978, production of 47 of the 80 major industrial products met
targets at least 1 month ahead of schedule, including steel, pig iron, rolled
steel, copper, coal, cement, and chemical fertilizers. Also production of
nearly all 80 industrial products had increased considerably, with more than
50 products increasing in excess of 20% over the 1977 levels. 
 Coal production in 1978 was 12.4% more than that given for 1977, and crude
oil production, 11.1% more. In contrast, gains in coal and oil in 1979 (over
1978) were only 1.6% and 1.9%, respectively. Efforts to improve efficiency
and catch up on development were reasons for slower growth. Electric power
production was 14.8% more than the 223 billion kilowatt-hours given for 1977.
The performance, of the steel industry in 1978 and 1979 was outstanding,
with ingot and rolled steel outputs rising roughly 50% each in 2 years. In
this instance, most idle steel capacity became more fully utilized. Cement
production increased perhaps 10% and reportedly 17.5% in 1979 and 1978, respectively,
over the previous years, with small-scale cement plants spearheading the
way. In 1978, China was said to have produced 6.6 million tons of sulfuric
acid, 1.33 million tons of soda ash, and 1.64 million tons of caustic soda.
One major surprise in the reported output figures is salt, which was given
as 17.1 million tons in 1977 and 19.5 million tons in 1978 - considerably
lower than what western observers had 
thought. However, the salt figures very likely are incomplete and exclude
the salts converted to industrial chemicals. 
 Production of other minerals and metals must be estimated because official
data are not released. Natural gas output may be in the range of up to 100
billion cubic meters per year. Since the bulk of the pig iron is produced
from iron ore, China's iron ore production of equivalent 50% Fe or better
grade is rather high compared with other countries. China produees mostly
directshipping iron ore, concentrates, and sintered ore rather than pellets.
The Chinese report combined production of more than 1 million tons of copper,
tungsten, tin, alumi. num, lead, zinc, and two other nonferrous metals in
1979, or 12.8% more than in 1978.6 This means mainly the combined output
of the nonferrous base metals (refined)— copper, lead, zinc, and
aluminum—since
the others are no doubt small in quantity. China's production of the major
nonferrous base metals is not significant by world standards. However, in
basic materials, China is indeed important, ranking second in salt, third
in coal, fourth in cement, fifth in steel, and within the first 10 in oil.
China is one of the world's foremost producers of pyrite, and a medium large
producer of phosphates. The country leads the world in tungsten, among the
top three producers of antimony, and ranks closer to fifth in tin. Resources
of these and other export metals look better as the years go by. 
 
Table 1.—China: Estimated1 production of mineral commodities 
(Metric tons unless otherwise specified) 
Commodity2 , 1976 1977 1978" lt)79" 
METALS 
Aluminum: 
Bauxite, gross weight3 
Alumina, gross weight___________________________ 
Metal, refined, primary 
Antimony, mine output, metal content_________________ 
Bismuth, mine output, metal content__________________ 
Cadmium metal,smelter  
Copper 
Mineoutput, metal content______________________ 
Metal: 
Smelter, primary and secondary________________ 
Refined, primaryandsecondary________________ 
Gold, mine output, metal content troy ounces_ - 
Iron andsteel: 
  Iron ore, gross weight4 thousand tons_ - 
  Pig iron do. - - — 
 
 
Ferroalloys, blast furnace and electric furnace: 
 Ferromanganese do - - - 
 Ferrosilicon do. - - - 
 Silicon metal do. — — — 
 Ferrochromium do__ 
Other                             Total