According to official data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), profits at major Chinese raw material industry’s companies were nearly doubled, year–on–year.

The industry recorded profits of 711 Billion Yuan ($ 109 Billion) in March this year, compared to the same period last year. This was primarily a result of the devastating impact of the pandemic. This year has also, seen greater productivity during the Lunar New Year due to more employees staying back rather than visit their homes, due to fears of the pandemic.

NBS official Zhu Hong stated that greater profits in the extraction & processing sector of the raw material industry such as metals, petroleum, and chemicals – saw the growth rate greatly bolstered as demand rose globally.

“There are still fairly large uncertainties in the global epidemic trend and the international environment, and the recovery between industries is still uneven … the price of raw materials has been rising significantly, increasing cost pressures for enterprises,” said Zhu Hong.