China’s Industry Ministry said on Friday metals firms should not seek to ramp up production at all costs and should "avoid vicious competition" with one another as they return to work in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
Industrial production in China, the world’s biggest metals consumer, took a big hit from the epidemic, with movement of people and commodities restricted in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus, meaning companies did not have enough staff or in some cases raw materials to operate as normal.
But the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association last week said 76.5% of its more than 1 000 members had gone back to work.