Ann: Company Secretary Appointment , page-37

SANTIAGO, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Copper prices will average $3.60 to $4 a pound next year as Chinese demand for the red metal helps compensate for Europe's debt woes, Chile's influential mining association Sonami, said on Tuesday. Prices for the metal are down nearly 25 percent this year, on track for the first annual decline since 2008, as the euro zone debt crisis has pushed investors to liquidate industrial metals. "Despite the climate of uncertainty surrounding the global economy, market conditions appear solid for the mining industry," Sonami said in a release. "The experts agree that consumption will be sustained by emerging markets, particularly China," it said. In New York, the most-active U.S. copper futures contract, March , was trading 1.95 percent stronger at $3.3740 a pound on Tuesday afternoon.