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.
Chile’s state copper miner Codelco said on Thursday it had reached agreement on a new collective labor contract in early negotiations with the union of workers at its Gabriela Mistral mine in northern Chile.
The 36-month contract included a signing bonus of 4.2 million pesos ($6,216.63) and a 2 million peso ($2,960.30) premium paid to workers for agreeing to the early negotiation, Codelco, the world’s No. 1 copper producer, said in a statement.
The deal, approved by 91.7 percent of the union, also included 1.1 percent salary increases, Codelco said.
Gabriela Mistral produced around 122,700 tonnes of copper in 2017.
($1=676 pesos)
(Reporting by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Grant McCool)
