China's nonferrous metals will see price hikes in the second half year due to continued tight supply in the market, said a survey by the Ministry of Commerce.

China's demand for aluminium will rise 15 percent over last year to 9 million tons, the survey said.

Rocketing prices will slow the growth rate for the demand for copper to 3 percent with the total demand reaching four million tons for the year, said the survey.

According to a survey of key government departments and industry associations show that 73 percent of respondents believe the supply of 11 kinds of nonferrous metal products will be sufficient.

Twenty-five percent of them think nonferrous metals will be short of supply while two percent believe the metals will be oversupplied.

The survey covering 300 kinds of main materials was conducted by the Ministry of Commerce at the end of June, involving local commercial management departments, key enterprises, related industrial associations and experts.

(Xinhua News Agency August 17, 2006)