Jinchuan Group Ltd, China's biggest nickel producer, has suspended its planned private share sale due to changes in capital markets, according to a statement released on its website on Tuesday.

The Jinchang, Gansu province-located company said earlier it plans to issue five billion new shares in a private placement at a price range of RMB 5.5 to RMB6.0 apiece to raise as much as RMB 30 billion. Of that, 3.3 million shares will be offered to existing shareholders.

The board of directors will decide when to restart the plan depending on market conditions, the statement said.

Jinchuan, also the biggest nickel producer in Asia, has a current annual production capacity of 150,000 tons of nickel, 400,000 tons of copper, 10,000 tons of cobalt, 8 tons of gold, 150 tons of silver and 3,500 kilograms of platinum group metals. Its annual sales revenue exceeds RMB 30 billion and aims to boost the figure to RMB 100 billion within the next five years.