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Hong Kong - Shares of China Mengniu Dairy, one of the country's biggest milk producers, plummeted in Hong Kong on Tuesday after its products were found tainted with an industrial chemical that has killed four infants and sickened thousands.
The company's stock tumbled by almost 60% to HK$6.85, hitting its lowest point in years.
Its shares were suspended September 17 as mainland authorities recalled milk and dairy products from Mengniu and 21 other companies after samples were found to contain melamine.
Melamine-tainted milk has sickened nearly 53 000 children in mainland China and is blamed for the deaths of four. The chemical, used in making plastics and high in nitrogen, which registers as protein in tests of milk, can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure.
Mengniu, China's No. 1 dairy producer in total volume, said only a small portion of its products were contaminated and blamed the contamination on "the illegal acts of some irresponsible milk collection centers and raw milk dealers."
"The board wishes to sincerely apologise for the incident and any inconvenience caused to the public," the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Mengniu, based in Hohhot in northern China's Inner Mongolia region, produced 4.8 million tonnes of dairy products in 2007, according to the company's annual report.
- AP