This year will be the year when the copper market broke out? These five countries are vigorously developing copper projects!
This year will be the year when the copper market broke out? These five countries are vigorously developing copper projects!
2018-04-08 09:28:30 Source: Bath Fire Nickel Plate Print Post Comment I want to subscribe
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According to BMI Research, a research division of Fitch International Group, global copper production will steadily increase over the next few years, supported by the improvement of low-cost markets and copper prices.
“We forecast global copper production will increase at an average annual rate of 3.6% between 2018 and 2027, as some of the major copper projects will go live. In terms of quantity, we expect global production to increase from 20.4 million tons in 2018 to 2027. The 28 million tons. Due to business interruption, after a modest contraction in 2017, price increases will stimulate project development, especially in major countries such as Australia and Peru."
Chile
Due to strikes and operational disruptions, Chile’s copper production will resume its growth in 2018 after contracting 4% in 2017. The country’s output is expected to increase from 5.4 million tons in 2018 to 6.6 million tons in 2027, with an average annual growth rate of 2.3%.
Chile's state-owned mining company Codelco once set the highest output since 2012 in the fourth quarter of 2012 - 520,000 tons.
In January this year, the company received an environmental permit for the El Teniente expansion project and submitted an environmental impact assessment of the $250 million expansion project at the Andina mine.
In addition, BHP Billiton has approved a $2.5 billion expansion at Spence, including a traditional large-scale sulphide concentrator and a 1000-litre desalination plant per second, which will extend the useful life of mines and increase production capacity.
Despite the recovery of the growth strategy, the workforce will remain a key point for miners to save costs, especially as prices rise, so will the tensions between guilds looking for higher wages and cost-conscious companies.
Moreover, despite the sharp rise in prices, in the past year, Chile’s mining sector has laid off an average of more than 20,000 people per month, which is the same as the same period of the previous year.
China
Many mines are unprofitable due to low copper ore grades, and smelters are turning to ore imports. China's copper production growth rate will be lower than average.
It is predicted that China’s copper production will reach 1.8 million tons this year, and will reach 2.2 million tons by 2027, with an annual growth rate of 2.1%.
It should be noted that the average growth rate of copper production in China in the first 10 years was 6.9%. At present, Chinese enterprises will continue to consider the investment of low-cost copper mines in the global market to ensure the supply of ores.
For example, in January, Sinomine Fuhai of Hong Kong purchased a number of copper assets from the Democratic Republic of the Congo for $250 million from troubled Australian mining company Tiger Resources.
In December 2017, Moly Mines, a subsidiary of Hanlong Mining, purchased the White Range copper project from Queensland Mining Australia for $45 million and subsequently acquired the company.
Peru
Due to strong demand for pipeline projects, fierce competition in operating costs and rising copper prices, Peru’s copper industry will maintain steady growth in the coming years. The country’s copper production is forecast to increase from 2.5 million tons in 2018 to 3.7 million tons in 2027, with an average annual growth rate of 4.4%. In 2017, MMG Ltd's Las Bambas mine produced 454,000 tons of copper in the first year, but the company expects that the output in 2018 will be between 410,000 tons and 430,000 tons, because the ore grade is relatively low during mining. low.
The rise in copper prices will prompt the company to continue its project in Peru. For example, in February, Southern Copper won an open tender for the Michiquillay copper project with 400 million U.S. dollars. The company plans to spend 2.5 billion US dollars to develop the project and is expected to begin production in 2025.
The Southern Copper Corporation is also in the process of the Toquepala expansion project, which will begin operations in July 2018. In addition, it has a $1.4 billion Tia Maria copper project.
United States
As the grade of ore decreases year by year, related projects encourage development, and copper prices rise, US copper production will resume moderate growth in 2018. In the next decade, the country’s copper production is expected to increase from 1.3 million tons this year to 1.6 million tons by 2027.
Last year, the Freeport McMoRan report stated that North American operations' copper production fell by 17.1% year-on-year to 689,000 tons, due to the decline in ore grades and business stagnation.
The company will invest 850 million US dollars to develop the Lone Star project near the Safford mine, and it is expected that the annual output will be about 90,700 tons by 2020.
Due to price hikes and federal deregulation, progress has been made in copper projects. In January of this year, Hudbay Mining provided an update on the Rosemount project, noting that the company plans to begin construction before the final approval stage in 2018. In addition, in September last year, Taseko Mines announced that the Environmental Appeals Board's Environmental Appeals Board has maintained the company's Florence Copper Project license and the company will begin construction.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Republic of Congo Republic was favored by global mining companies last year. Affected by continued investment and high-grade copper reserves in the country, production in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will maintain steady growth in the coming years.
It is expected that Congo’s gold production will increase from 1 million tons this year to 1.9 million tons in 2027. Last February, Glencore announced a $960 million agreement to increase its stake in the copper and cobalt business of two mining and trading companies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Upon completion of the transaction, Glencore will own 100% of Mutanda and 8% of Katanga. Although the industry prospects of the Democratic Republic of Congo are still optimistic, in January the country passed a new mining bill, which also brought downside risks for investors.
In the new mining bill, the Democratic Republic of the Congo increased the use rates for copper and cobalt from 2% to 3.5%, and if they were regarded as “strategic” metals, it could increase by 5%.
