Chilean copper prices have declined over the last two weeks because of COVID-19-induced uncertainty, and it isn’t clear when they’ll rebound, said the Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco).
Copper prices declined by 5.8pc to $2.36/lb on March 16 because of low Chinese consumption, weak investments in February, and the recent monetary policies undertaken by the Federal Reserve, Jorge Cantallopts, Cochilco’s director, told news media a couple of days ago.
Copper prices fell to a three-year low of $250.90/lb on March 13, which is 1.7pc below the price on March 6, according to Cochilco figures.
Copper prices have systematically declined since China announced the COVID-19 outbreak, and haven’t stopped since, said Colchilco. It added that demand for the metal will recover once China has control over the crisis.
Chile’s copper production increased by 0.4pc to 459,100mt in January, driven by higher output from some of its largest miners.
Chile’s copper output is expected to reach 5.87mn mt in 2020, and to rise by 0.7pc next year to 5.91mn mt, Cochilco said.