Smelter targets overseas M&A

Jiangxi Copper Co, China's biggest copper producer, said it will step up overseas mergers and acquisitions after low metal prices eroded profit by more than a third.

Net profit slumped 38 percent to 643 million yuan ($96.8 million) in the first half, from 1.03 billion yuan a year earlier, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Wednesday, amid slowing domestic demand, rising production and record imports of the refined metal.

Sales climbed 20 percent to 90 billion yuan, under international accounting standards. The company will seek to capture M&A opportunities in mining that are arising from low commodity prices and "facilitate the progress of internationalization of the company," the State-owned smelter said.