August 12 -- Jinduicheng Molybdenum (601958.SH) reported a 19.44-percent drop in net profit to 359 million yuan in the first half of 2011, reports stcn.com, citing a company filing. Sales revenue grew 21.31 percent to 3.686 billion yuan, with earnings per share (EPS)of 0.11 yuan. All percentage changes cited in this article are year-on-year.

The company blamed the profit slump on higher labor costs, raw material prices and its income tax rate.

In the past accounting period, the Xi’an-based company completed a mineral processing technology upgrade, increasing its daily mineral processing capacity from 30,000 tons to 40,000 tons. The company’s Ruyang subsidiary also established a 5,000-ton mineral processing capacity plant. The two projects raised Jinduicheng Molybdenum’s mineral processing capacity by 47 percent.

In the first half of the year, the average domestic price of refined molybdenum was 2,182 yuan per ton. Molybdenum oxide was 2,183 yuan per ton, and ferromolybdenum was 146,300 yuan per ton.