Diversification from China leaves $85bn gap in copper supply chain, warns WoodMac
China currently controls nearly all of global smelting and refining capacity (97%), contributing over 3 million tonnes of production.
The union at BHP’s giant Escondida copper mine in Chile said on Sunday in a memo to its members that it could relaunch a strike later in the day if the company does not “rectify its position” over contract talks as soon as possible.
An internal bulletin from the company, seen by Reuters, said it is complying with an earlier agreement and asked employees to keep working. “Our main focus is to end this process satisfactorily, to benefit everyone, especially the workers.”
The mine’s powerful union went on strike on Tuesday over payment disputes and came to a preliminary agreement on Friday to end the strike at the world’s largest copper mine that had threatened to hit global supply of the red metal.
(By Fabian Cambero; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Diane Craft)
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