China Commodity Output Slows in October

China's oil refineries ran at lower rates in October, and output from steel mills and power plants also dropped, as a credit freeze bit into demand for industrial commodities in the world's second-largest economy.

But the lackluster data should be considered against more sanguine economic indicators which showed October inflation falling sharply, factory output falling slightly and fixed asset investment still robust -- allaying any fears that China economy is poised to slow down sharply amid a gloomy global outlook.

China's refinery throughput for October fell 0.9 percent from a year earlier to 8.74 million barrels per day (bpd), the second decline this year, as planned and unexpected shutdowns cut into operations, while total power generation of 364 billion kilowatts was at it lowest since February.

The National Bureau of Statistics said China processed 37.11 million tonnes of crude oil in October. On a daily basis, it was 0.5 percent lower than the 8.78 million bpd recorded in September.

However, both are expected to rebound on the back of winter heating demand, as the government orders refineries to run at full capacity to cover the fuel shortage and power stations ramp up output to make up for poor hydropower generation.

In previous years, power generation typically posted monthly falls in September and October, before rising for the rest of the year.

Separately, China's production of refined copper fell to its lowest level in five months in October, which was its second decline in as many months, but analysts said the fall was due to a shortage of raw materials copper concentrate and scrap instead of poor downstream demand.

Refined copper production stood at 469,000 tonnes in October, a drop of 2.1 percent compared to September, but a 16.4 percent increase on the same month a year ago, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. Output reached a monthly record 518,000 tonnes in August.