MEXICO CITY, July 25 (Reuters) - Mexico's Becle

, the world's largest tequila producer, on Thursday

said it had suspended operations at its plant in Tequila where a

deadly explosion killed six people earlier in the week, until

further notice.

Becle said in a statement that it has been supporting the

families of those who died.

Turning to the financial impact of the fire, CEO Juan

Domingo Beckmann told a conference call that damage had been

contained to one part of the site and that Becle did not

anticipate material financial impact.

"We were fortunate that the damage itself was quite limited

from an asset perspective," Beckmann told analysts, saying the

initial assessments indicated it was limited to a processing

area in La Rojena plant where a 500,000-litre tank caught fire,

triggering a fire in three others according to emergency

services.

Six people were killed and several other workers injured in

the blast, the company and state civil protection said.

Becle said that while it did not anticipate difficulties in

starting up the plant again, safety remained a key priority.

The town of Tequila, home to several distilleries of the

agave spirit, is a popular tourist destination about an hour's

drive northwest of Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city.

Beckmann spoke in an call following Becle's second-quarter

earnings, which saw shares rise as much as 5% in morning trading

thanks to a 20% jump in core earnings, even as net profit

slumped due to slow sales outside the United States and Canada.

"We have said that Becle will be a margin story going

forward, and we believe that these results are the continuation

of that," analysts at Itau BBA said.

Tequila has been growing in popularity notably in the United

States, where together with mezcal, industry groups estimate it

is the second best-selling spirit after vodka as the country's

market brought in some $6.5 billion last year.

Becle added that it expects more favorable prices for agave,

a plant used to make tequila, in the coming quarters.