LME Copper prices settled almost 2% higher, with prices touching $11,000/t at one point yesterday, after Chinese traders returned from the holiday break in a bullish mood amid ongoing supply disruptions, ING’s commodity experts Ewa Manthey and Warren Patterson note.
Codelco output hits 21-year low after El Teniente collapse
“Recent reports of production disruptions at major mines, including Tech Resources (Quebrada Blanca mine), Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (Grasberg mine), Codelco (EI Teniente) and Hudbay Minerals Inc. – have led to a sharp downward revision in the output guidance for the year. Additionally, expectations of US Federal Reserve rate cuts later this year have further supported Copper prices.”
“Recent reports suggest that Codelco produced just 93.4kt (the lowest monthly output since 2003) of Copper in August, down 25% compared to 125.3kt produced during the same period last year. The drop was largely due to a deadly collapse at its EI Teniente mine, which disrupted operations and derailed recovery efforts from a prolonged production slump.”
“It is estimated that the company reported losses of 33kt of Copper due to the incident, while also trimming its 2025 output guidance. Meanwhile, output at the Collahuasi mine (jointly owned by Anglo-American and Glencore) fell by 27.5% YoY to 35.4kt for the period mentioned above, impacted by a period of lower-grade ore.”