UPDATE 1-Russia's Chelyabinsk Zinc H1 Output Rises 56 pct

MOSCOW, July 30 -- Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant (CHZNq.L: Quote) (CHZN.MM: Quote) said on Thursday its output rose by 56 percent in the first half of 2010 versus a year ago, indicating Russia's top zinc producer is restoring output after the economic crisis.

The plant, Russia's largest maker of the anti-corrosive metal, produced 80,573 tonnes of zinc and zinc-based alloys, up from 24,327 tonnes a year ago, it said in a statement. Some 44 percent of that output went to the domestic market.

Chelyabinsk, which is controlled jointly by Russia's Urals Mining and Metals Co (UMMC) and the Russian Copper Company, had to cut output last year along with other Russian metal producers because of the economic crisis, which reduced demand and lowered metals prices.

UMMC has pledged to restore output at Chelyabinsk to pre-crisis levels.

Chelyabinsk subsidiary Nova Zinc LLC, which operates the Akzhal zinc and lead ore mine in Kazakhstan, processed 722,400 tonnes of ore in January-June 2010, 21 percent more than in the same period of 2009.

But production of zinc in concentrate fell by 18 percent in the first six months to 14,038 tonnes, and lead in concentrate production decreased by 13 percent to 1,822 tonnes, as metals content in ore declined.

Chelyabinsk's UK subsidiary, the Brock Metal Company, sold 14,713 tonnes of products in January-June 2010, 45 percent more than a year ago, the company said.