China steelmaker Panzhihua checking quake damage

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - PZH Steel, a listed unit of the Panzhihua steel group, one of western China's top steel makers, said on Monday it had incurred some damage from a major earthquake at the weekend but was still checking on the extent of its losses. An earthquake on Saturday about 20 miles southeast of Panzhihua city, near Sichuan province's border with Yunnan, killed 27 people, damaged or destroyed more than 180,000 homes and affected at least 800,000 residents, state media said on Sunday.

The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 5.7, while China's official Xinhua news agency said it measured 6.1.

PZH Steel said in a statement to the Shenzhen stock exchange that further investigation was required to assess the extent of damage from the quake.

(Reporting by Edmund Klamann; editing by Jonathan Hopfner)