The coronavirus has sparked fears in Mexico’s nonferrous market, devaluing copper, zinc, and nickel prices.
The country’s copper prices declined by 10pc to $5,700/t from $6,300/t, a source at JRG comercial, a nonferrous recycling firm located in the east-central state of Puebla, told Davis Index.
Copper prices have decreased because companies could have stockpiled the metal in their warehouses without any way of moving it, thereby leading to significant losses, the source added.
Undersupplied nonferrous recycling firms have also affected prices for the past 15 days. Additionally, markets have been volatile in fear of the coronavirus’s effect on metal markets.
Zinc and nickel prices also decreased by 3-6pc, the source said without disclosing more details.
In northern Mexico, copper prices declined by 10pc, a source at Riisa, a ferrous and nonferrous recycling company, told Davis Index, adding copper fell immediately upon the coronavirus’s announcement.
Through the first 10 months of 2019, Mexico produced 1.2mn mt of copper, up by 20pc from 1mn mt of production over the same period in 2018, according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography.