Chile · Mining
Key Facts
The price. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange passed US$14,000 a tonne on 4 August and reached US$14,369.50 on Thursday, the highest since the record of US$14,527.50 set on 29 January.
The trigger. Reuters obtained a Congolese order banning exports of copper and cobalt concentrates. Grasberg in Indonesia is also suspended.
The windfall. Núcleo Minero estimates every one-cent rise in the annual average price is worth about US$60 million to Chile’s treasury. At a US$6.00 average, that is roughly US$9.7 billion above budget.
