Jiangxi Copper Co., China's second- largest producer of the metal, will speed smelting to recover snowstorms-induced lost output to meet a 26 percent planned increase in production for the year.

Full-year targeted production may exceed 700,000 metric tons, Jiangxi Copper Chairman Li Yihuang said in an interview in Beijing today. It produced 554,000 tons last year, according to research company Beijing Antaike Information Development Co.

The worst snowstorms in 50 years in China, which cut power supplies and closed mines, may have reduced production of refined copper by as much as 40,000 tons, Citigroup Inc. said last month. Rising Chinese demand for copper drove a fivefold price gain in five years.

``Smelters production is back to 95 percent, and we could recover the loss in the next few quarters,'' Li said at the National People's Congress. Jiangxi lost between 2,000 tons and 3,000 tons of mines' output, which will cut earnings by ``several'' million yuan, he said.

A lack of power and delays in the delivery of raw materials forced Jiangxi to cut smelting capacity and close mines in February. The company, based in eastern Guixi, Jiangxi province, posted a profit of 1.26 billion yuan ($178 million) for its third quarter last year, the last reported earnings.

Copper is used in wires and cables.