COPPER production in China rose to a record last month on the back of ample raw material supplies and an expectation of a rise in demand prompted smelters to raise output. Aluminum output was little changed.

Production of refined copper was up 29 percent from a year ago to 518,000 tons, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday. Output was 478,000 tons in July.

Elevated domestic output in recent months may curb a further increase in imports after shipments rose for the third month. Stockpiles monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange totaled 113,300 tons last week, 40 percent higher than this year's low of 80,792 tons in June.

Zhu Lin, an analyst at data provider SMM Information & Technology, said: "There were no repair and maintenance jobs this summer, and raw material supplies are still sufficient. I do not think output will stay at a record level or go higher, as the smelters may not want production to exceed their plans too much."

Output of refined copper for the first eight months of the year was 16 percent higher than the same period a year ago at 3.64 million tons, according to the statistics bureau.

Nicholas Snowdon, an analyst at Barclays Capital, said: "With spot treatment and refining charges heading back to unattractive terms for smelters, a likely secondary effect could well be that there is greater constraint on refined production growth and hence concentrate imports."

Aluminum output rose 22 percent from a year ago to 1.55 million tons, little changed from July, data from the bureau showed.