Hit be low prices and a scarcity of concentrates China's major zinc producers are expected to trim output significantly this year. In first six months, most of China's top zinc firms -Huludao Zinc Smelter, Zhongjin Lingnan Group, Baiyin Non-ferrous Metals, Liuzhou Longcheng and Shuikoushan Mining Bureau - put out less zinc due to poor market conditions. Only China's second largest zinc producer, Zhuzhou Smelter, bucked the trend, turning out nearly 140 percent more of the metal in the first half of '02 than in the same period last year. China's largest zinc firm Huludao produced 287,000 tonnes of tie refined metal last year. Firms have been dogged by battered metal prices with no clear sighs of recovery in the near term, partly because of weak US equity markets and depressing economic data. "Market conditions have changed, but we should be able to manage at least 200,000 tonnes this year," a company official said.