ZHUZHOU Smelter Group Co, China's biggest zinc smelter, said its first-half profit fell 48 percent after snowstorms cut production and metal prices dropped.

    Net income slipped to 93.9 million yuan (US$13.6 million), or 0.18 yuan a share, in the six months ended on June 30, from 183.6 million yuan, or 0.38 yuan, a year ago, the Hunan Province-based company said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday. Sales fell 35 percent to 4.76 billion yuan. Zhuzhou Smelter halted production at its zinc and lead smelters in January as the country's worst snowstorms in 50 years cut power and disrupted transport. The price of zinc in London fell 36 percent in the first half from a year earlier as supplies outpaced demand.