CHARTS: The coming critical minerals trade war is BRICS short of a load
"While a large number of countries around the world continue to talk about securing raw material supply, China is actually doing something about it."
The copper price extended its decline on Friday despite the prospect of a strike in the world’s biggest producer Chile and signs of improvement in top buyer China’s economy.
Copper for delivery in July fell 2.5% from Thursday’s settlement, touching $4 per pound ($8,800 per tonne) Friday morning on the Comex market in New York.
Click here for an interactive chart of copper prices
The union said that workers at Chilean State-owned Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, will go on strike if they do not receive a favourable answer from the company’s board of directors.
The union has insisted that Ventanas, in the central zone of the country where the smelter is located, needs $53 million worth of capsules to retain certain gases, allowing operations to continue while being environmentally compliant.
Meanwhile, data showed that Shanghai’s economy contracted for a second month in May at a somewhat slower pace, weighing on the commercial hub’s recovery prospects following a two-month covid lockdown.
Related: Chile tax reform, mining royalty ‘priority number one,’ Minister says
“Industrial metals are really not sure what direction to take on China. One day there’s a headline saying everything’s opening up. The next day there’s a partial close-down again,” said Caroline Bain, chief commodities economist at Capital Economics in London.
(With files from Reuters)
