Copper market’s biggest whale fuels speculation of a major shift
The world’s single biggest buyer of copper, State Grid Corp. of China, has slowed its purchases of copper wire this year.
Heavy rains led Friday to river floods, blocked roads and even forced Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, to halt some of its mining operations.
Work at the company’s Andina mine is currently suspended, Codelco said in an emailed response to questions. El Teniente’s underground mine continues to function, though the company has “preemptively halted the pit and Sewell operations,” it said.
Separately, Anglo American said on Friday that its Los Bronces mine is running normally for the moment despite snowfall in the area.
Parts of central and southern Chile are being slammed by heavy rains that have prompted both school and road closures and sparked concerns of mudslides. Water utility Aguas Andinas, which supplies most of the capital Santiago, ceased operations at some of its treatment plants due to high sediment content. It has reserves to cover demand in Santiago for the next 24 hours, Deputy Interior minister Manuel Monsalve said, according to El Mercurio.
The government has also ordered evacuations of some urban areas near river banks. Claudio Orrego, governor of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, called people to “responsibly” save water.
(By James Attwood)
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