Drivers of intersectoral metal consumption intensity in China: A combined input-output and sensitivity analysis

Abstract As a country with a high level of metal consumption, China must urgently formulate effective policies to improve its metal use efficiency. This article identifies the key sectors with the highest metal consumption intensity (MCI) and investigates the effect of the (pure) technical and final demand coefficients on the MCI of key sectors using a combined input-output and sensitivity analysis. The results show that the average MCI of key industries increased from 7.37 tonnes per ten thousand yuan to 32.13 tonnes per ten thousand yuan during the period from 2002 to 2012, and the manufacturing and processing of the metals sector (n14) revealed the greatest MCI. Moreover, the elasticity of the MCI in terms of the (pure) technical and final demand coefficients of key sectors also increased rapidly from 2002 to 2012, and the number of corresponding transactions leading to the increase in key sectoral MCI significantly increased. In terms of the elasticity of the technical coefficients, their sensitivity exceeded that of the pure technical coefficients in most cases due to the influence of the demand structure, and direct transactions between sectors had important impacts on the MCI in most key industries. Meanwhile, almost all the sectors exerted direct or indirect effects on the MCI of the mining of metal ores industry (n4). In addition, the manufacturing of general and special purpose machinery (n16), manufacturing of electrical machinery and apparatus (n18) and construction (n22) exerted influences on most sectors. Concerning the final demand coefficient elasticity, the gross fixed capital formation of most sectors induced the greatest elasticity in the corresponding sectors, and the greatest elasticity of all the sectors was related to the gross fixed capital formation of n22.