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.
Peru’s copper production came in essentially flat for March at about 219,000 metric tons, government data showed on Monday, with output of the key industrial metal from January totaling some 641,000 metric tons.
Copper output during the first three months of this year is up 3.5% compared to the same period last year, according to the data from Peru’s energy and mining ministry.
March production edged down 0.1% compared to the same month in 2023, the ministry’s data showed.
Peru is one of the world top copper miners, with revenue from sales of the red metal prized for its ability to conduct electricity providing crucial support for the South American country’s economy.
Among the country’s top miners, Grupo Mexico’s subsidiary Southern Copper saw its January-to-March output rise nearly 20%, while production from commodity giant Glencore’s Minera Antamina unit increased about 13% during the three months.
March production of gold, zinc, iron, tin and molybdenum were all up in the month, but silver and lead dipped.
Energy and Mines Minister Romulo Mucho has said he expects copper production to reach 3.0 million tons this year, which if achieved would mark nearly 9% growth compared to last year’s national output of the metal.
For years, Peru was the world’s second largest copper miner behind Chile, but its No. 2 position was taken last year by the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa in terms of production. Even so, Peru remains No. 2 globally in terms of copper exports, according to official data.
(By Marco Aquino; Editing by Anthony Esposito and Sandra Maler)
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