* Sees 50 million euros cost-savings from 2010
* Net cash position increases to 176 million euros
* Shares rise as much as 10.4 percent
* Q1 zinc output down 30 percent vs Q4 2008
* Shares up 10.9 percent
(Adds share price, analyst comment)
By Antonia van de Velde
BRUSSELS, April 29 (Reuters) - Belgium's Nyrstar, the world's biggest producer of zinc, said its net cash position improved in the first quarter and announced new cost cutting plans, sending its shares sharply higher on Wednesday.
At 0900 GMT, the stock was up 10.9 percent at 4.57 euros, against a 1.3 percent rise for the DJ Stoxx European basic resources index.
"The additional planned cost savings are significant, and I was positively surprised by the group's net cash position," ING analyst Filip De Pauw said.
Nyrstar, which dropped out of the Belgian blue-chip index in March, said in a statement it was planning to transform the cost structure across the entire company.
This would result in over 50 million euros ($65.1 million) in cost savings per year from 2010, it said.
Analysts had so far been expecting cost savings of about 30 million euros per year after the group announced a raft of production cuts and restructuring plans in response to deteriorating market conditions.
Nyrstar also said ist net cash position increased by 29 million euros from the end of 2008 to 176 million euros at the end of March.
"With our strong cash position and no debt, we are well placed to survive the downturn and position the company for growth going forward," Chief Executive Roland Junck said in a statement.
Zinc output dropped to 30 percent in the first quarter from the fourth. Its lead production fell by 18 percent.
The group said in February it would cut zinc production by 190,000 tonnes in the first half of 2009, about 9 percent of its output in 2008, following a 35,000-tonne reduction in the fourth quarter of last year.
The severe downturn in the global economy continued into the first quarter of 2009, leading to significantly reduced demand for zinc and other commodities, although production cuts had helped stabilise stock levels and zinc prices, the group said.
Zinc is mainly used to galvanise steel to protect against corrosion, in alloys such as brass and, as in oxide form, as white pigment in paints. ($1=.7683 Euro) (Reporting by Antonia van de Velde; editing by Timothy Heritage and Simon Jessop)