China's raw materials industry posted a steady start to the year, with the value-added industrial output rising 4.6 percent year on year in the first quarter, supported by solid profit growth, structural improvement and faster innovation breakthroughs.

Zhang Yunming, vice minister of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), said at a press conference on Tuesday that the value-added industrial output of the petrochemical and chemical sector increased 7.4 percent year on year in the first quarter, while that of the non-ferrous metals sector grew 2.6 percent year on year.

From January to February, the profits of major raw materials industrial enterprises surged 45.6 percent year on year, with the profit margin reaching 4.2 percent, up 1.2 percentage points from the same period of last year, Zhang said, noting that the industrial structure of the sector has continued to improve.

"In the first quarter, the steel industry achieved positive growth of 2.5 percent in its added value despite a year-on-year decline in the output of major products such as crude steel and rolled steel," said the vice minister.

In the cement sector, nearly 30 million tons of production capacity was cut or phased out in the first quarter through capacity replacement policies.

Meanwhile, the revenue of the green construction materials industry continued to rise steadily, and the number of certified green building materials products increased by 5 percent compared with the end of 2025.

Innovations in the raw materials sector kept emerging in the January-March period, with China unveiling its independently developed industrial-grade product of the T1200-grade ultra-high-strength carbon fiber for the first time globally.

The product is expected to see extensive application in strategic emerging industries including aerospace, low-altitude economy and humanoid robotics.