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Acquired for $5.8bn almost a year ago, Las Bambas reflects China’s expectation that it will continue to be a huge consumer of the metal, even as Beijing tries to shift its economy away from its reliance on manufacturing and construction. China’s rapid industrialisation over the past 15 years has driven consumption of the metal, which is widely used in wiring and building.
It also reflects the widespread view within the mining industry that copper supply is set to decline significantly because of mine closures, falling ore grades and delays in getting projects off the ground. According to Wood Mackenzie, an industry consultancy,
between 400,000 and 900,000 tonnes of copper production will be lost every year between 2017 and 2021 due to attrition and mine closures.
But that has not been enough to prop up the price in the short term. Copper has fallen more than a third since 2012 as supplies outpace demand.
“Everyone is bullish copper at some point in the longer term — but in the near term, demand is not looking great,” says Jessica Fung, analyst at BMO Capital Markets.
A rally that took the price to almost $6,500 a tonne last month has quickly reversed as signs emerged of consumption weakening in the second quarter, normally a seasonally stronger time of the year...."
A short extract from a Financial times article last week. Currently copper getting hit but the mid term view could be better than even some of the optimists hope for if the market loses production as per above.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c74214d2-1978-11e5-8201-cbdb03d71480.html#axzz3et390tNp
