Swapping aluminum for copper will maintain China’s resources, group says
China depends on overseas imports for 60% of its aluminum resources as opposed to 70% of its copper resources.
Chile’s state-owned copper mining giant Codelco has hired Francisco Zuniga to head up refined sales, according to people familiar with the matter.
Zuniga will join Codelco in May after almost two years at Hartree Partners LP, where he managed the Chilean business of its rapidly growing metals unit. Prior to that, he worked in sales for London-listed miner Antofagasta Plc.
Zuniga, Hartree and Codelco all declined to comment.
Codelco is one of the biggest miners and smelters of copper, although its output could fall as much as 7% this year, its CEO said in March. The move comes as copper market players gather in the Chilean capital of Santiago for the annual CESCO Week against an uncertain backdrop for the metal.
LME copper futures are back over $9,000 per ton, after gaining almost 9% this year. However, the physical market is contending with an influx of short-term supply, incentivizing smelter output and a closed arbitrage for imports into main buyer China.
(By Archie Hunter, with assistance from James Attwood)
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