LONDON: Copper prices bounced on Thursday after a spate of production problems that threaten to cut supply, including a state of emergency in Peru, the world’s second biggest producer.
Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) added 0.6% to $10,280 a tonne in official open-outcry trading after two days of losses.
“We’ve seen several reports this week from some of the major miners that they are struggling with diesel costs, steel costs, input costs in general, making it much more of a challenge to maintain production,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen.
“If anything, we need an increase in production over the coming years to fulfil some of the aspirations we have regarding the climate and Russian dependency.”
Technical signals were also positive as LME copper found support at the 50-day moving average, Hansen added.
Chilean miner Antofagasta on Thursday posted a 24% tumble in first-quarter copper production while Anglo American reported a 13% drop.
A day earlier Peru said it would declare a state of emergency near Southern Copper Corp’s Cuajone mine in the face of growing protests against mining companies which have halted 20% of national copper output.
Also boosting metals was a weaker dollar, making greenback-denominated metals cheaper for buyers using other currencies.
Copper inventories in LME-approved warehouses continued recent increases on Thursday, rising to 130,500 tonnes for their highest since October, having climbed by 62% over the past four weeks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called for structural changes in Russia’s metallurgical industry to counter Western sanctions.
LME aluminium rose 0.2% to $3,275.50 a tonne and nickel gained 0.8% to $33,775, but zinc was little changed at $4,419.50, lead gave up 0.5% to $2,412 and tin slipped 0.3% to $42,850.
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