Column: China’s rare copper export boom signals more than weak demand
The world's largest buyer of copper shipped out an unprecedented 158,000 metric tons of refined metal in June.
Chilean miner Antofagasta posted a 5% increase in half-year profit on Tuesday, as higher copper prices more than offset lower sales.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the first six months of the year rose to $1.39 billion from $1.33 billion last year.
Antofagasta, majority owned by Chile’s Luksic family, said it would distribute 7.9 cents per share to its shareholders, down from an interim dividend 11.7 cents last year.
Its shares opened 0.4% higher in London.
“We expect a positive reaction to today’s results,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Marina Calero said.
“We view other opportunities in the European mining space as more favourable, given Antofagasta’s premium valuation and limited cash flow generation in the near term,” Calero added.
Antofagasta said the construction of a second concentrator at its Centinela mine is ahead of schedule, while expansion work is starting at its Los Pelambres’ desalination plant.
In July, the company said full-year copper output from its four copper mines in Chile would be at the lower end of its 670,000 to 710,000 metric ton guidance range, due to lower ore grades.
The London-listed company expects net cash costs at $1.70 per pound this year.
Copper, used in the power and construction industries, is expected to benefit from the green energy transition including demand from the electric vehicle sector and new applications such as data centres for artificial intelligence.
Prices for the metal on the London Metal Exchange (LME) reached a record high above $11,100 a metric ton in May, before dropping nearly 20% on weak manufacturing activity.
(By Clara Denina; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Jason Neely and David Evans)
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