IN BRIEF (Page 14)

Zinc purchases cut

China, the world's largest producer of zinc, will buy a less-than-expected 59,000 metric tons of the metal from domestic smelters to support the industry after prices plunged, two company executives said.

The State Reserve Bureau will buy zinc at 11,800 yuan a ton, said the executives after a meeting in Beijing with the agency yesterday. The bureau had sought to buy 96,000 tons, but a lack of stock held by smelters curbed the purchase plan, one executive said.