China's HNC Warns of H1 Loss on Weak Prices, Demand

HONG KONG, July 3 -- Hunan Nonferrous Metals (HNC) (2626.HK), a leading Chinese zinc and lead producer, said on Thursday its unaudited group results for the six months to June may show a loss due to low product prices and unsatisfactory demand.

    China is the world's top producer of zinc and lead, as well as tungsten and antimony, which HNC also produces.

    The company did not specify a figure for the expected loss, but said that for the comparative year-earlier period it posted an unaudited net profit of 190.5 million yuan.

    In May it said it was considering borrowing 1.2 billion yuan ($176 million) in bank loans to build stocks of metals produced by its plants, a move that could drive up Chinese prices of its products.

    (Source: Reuters)