The ministry added that the country's industrial output, an important economic indicator, reached 31.31 trillion yuan ($4.84 trillion) last year, making it the world's largest manufacturing power for 11 consecutive years.

The 2105 ferrosilicon contract price on ZCE closed at 7,920 yuan per ton on March 1.

In December 2020, Japan imported 32471.801 tons of ferrosilicon (containing by weight more than 55% of silicon).

China's benchmark power coal price dropped slightly during the past week.

The 2105 ferrosilicon contract price on ZCE closed at 7,796 yuan per ton on February 26.

"China has been the largest market for Vale since 2006 and has become more and more important to Vale in recent years," Xie said.

The 2105 ferrosilicon contract price on ZCE closed at 7,684 yuan per ton on February 25.

The amount exceeded the previous record of 1.08 billion tons in 2017, said the General Administration of Customs.