As copper prices keep going down a slippery slope triggered by signs of slowing in China and uncertainty about the future of stimulus in the US, Chile the country’s No. 1 producer of the red metal is warning of substantial loses.
According to market experts interviewed Friday by local paper La Tercera (in Spanish), copper is not only set for its worst quarter since 2011, but it is likely to continue at the current pace, ending the year as low as USD 6,590 per tonne.
The sources said that price would translate into USD 4 billion to USD 5 billion in lost revenue from copper exports, compared to 2012, assuming levels of production and costs remain the same. In addition, it would imply the State would lose USD 2 billion in royalties coming from both, private mining companies and Chile owned Codelco.
Mr Alvaro Merino National Mining Society (Sonami) research manager said that that for each cent copper prices fall, the Chilean economy loses USD 120 million and the Treasury, close to USD 55 millions.
