Sociedad Quimica Y Minera said on Thursday its ongoing legal dispute with Chilean authorities over royalty payments may not be resolved until end of 2018.
They claim it won’t be possible to cut costs enough to offset the higher levies, and warn that some miners may need to pass on this new cost increase to the industrial production chain.
This is the third strike this year over profit-sharing staged by the company’s unions and it affects Southern Copper's two mines in the country — Cuajone and Toquepala.
The LME has sent a directive to all suppliers asking them to detail how they guarantee “responsible sourcing” of the commodities they trade in the exchange.
The world's largest copper miner, Codelco, may see a boost in investment cash regardless of who wins next month's presidential runoff in Chile, as both candidates have vowed to end the state-run firm's funding of the military.