Creamer Media Login

Peru unrests threatens to choke off almost 2% of global copper supply

20th January 2023

Font size: - +

Protests in Peru are threatening to choke off access to almost $4-billion worth of copper just as China’s emergence from Covid lockdowns promises to boost demand.

Peru’s third-largest copper mine, Las Bambas, hasn’t dispatched copper concentrate since January 3 due to security concerns. Glencore's Antapaccay is also facing restrictions. The mines, which share the same highway access to ports, together account for nearly 2% of the world’s copper output.

Unrest has rattled Peru since the ouster and arrest of former President Pedro Castillo, upending commodity supply chains from metals to organic coffee. The disruption comes at a particularly precarious moment for copper markets. Inventories stand at historically low levels while miners warn demand for the world’s most critical metal is poised to skyrocket with the growing electrification of vehicles.

Base-metal prices have been on a bull run since New Year’s after China, a top consumer, abruptly abandoned Covid-19 controls. Prices settled Wednesday at a seven-month high on the London Metal Exchange. Goldman Sachs Group predicts ongoing deficits and forecast a record price of $11 000 a ton within 12 months.

Las Bambas, whose operator MMG is controlled by state-owned China Minmetals, has been the target of multiple demonstrations since it opened in 2016 as indigenous groups seek greater compensation for land and roads used by mining companies.

Edited by Bloomberg

Comments

The functionality you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

Click Here

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

➕

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

➕

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION

➕