BEIJING — China's 10 major non-ferrous metals registered steady output growth in the first three quarters of this year, official data showed.

Total output stood at 43.47 million tons during the Jan-Sept period, up 4.5 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

In the first nine months, the output of lead expanded 17.4 percent to 4.38 million tonnes while those of copper and zinc stood at 6.99 million tons and 4.58 million tons, up 6.4 percent and 9.5 percent, respectively.

The non-ferrous metal sector saw year-on-year profit growth in the Jan-Aug period, with the profit of non-ferrous metal smelting industry hitting 41 billion yuan (about $5.8 billion), up 9.6 percent year-on-year.

The profit of the non-ferrous metal processing industry expanded 8.6 percent to 39.7 billion yuan during the period, said the MIIT.