The world’s largest copper miner has a word of advice to the bears in the market: The downtrend in prices would not last long.
While the metal on Friday posted its biggest weekly loss since November last year after weaker factory gauges in China and the US fueled demand concerns, those fears were not grounded on fundamentals, Codelco chief commercial officer Roberto Ecclefield said.
He forecast 2.3 percent growth in consumption this year just as mine production is seen slipping 0.5 percent, while smelter output remains flat.
The Chilean state-run miner has been receiving requests from traders and customers who want to buy additional supply of refined copper for the second half of this year and next year, Ecclefield said.
The physical market remains stable, with premiums paid by buyers for the refined metal staying above US$60 per tonne, he said, without providing a comparative.
Only low-quality cathodes have lower premiums, driven by the liquidation of a Chinese trader, he said.
“Copper prices are being impacted by the financial sector’s view that there are risks that could impact global economic growth over the long term,” Ecclefield said by telephone on Thursday.
Supply disruptions, including rains in Chile and protests in Peru kept the market in deficit, even as demand for so-called concentrate, or the semi-processed ore, eased up as a result of a four-month stoppage at two of Codelco’s four smelters, Ecclefield said.
New smelter capacity in China means increasing competition for concentrates, he said.
Codelco expects shortages to worsen in the second half of the year, with less copper concentrate in the market and more smelting capacity available.
Copper for three-month delivery on Friday fell 0.18 percent to US$6,229 a tonne, down 2.6 percent for the week.
Spot gold on Friday advanced about 0.7 percent to US$1,279.19 an ounce, down 0.7 percent for the week.
BUMPER CROP IN US
There would be plenty of amber waves of grain this year across the US’ breadbasket.
That has been confirmed this week as traders and analysts toured Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma to measure yield potential for wheat crops.
Fields were looking green and lush after a wet spring helped boost soil moisture.
Yields in Kansas, the largest US grower of winter wheat, were estimated at 47.2 bushels an acre (0.4 hectares), according to the final tally from surveys on 469 stops during the annual Wheat Quality Council crop tour.
That compares with the average of 37 bushels measured on last year’s tour and the US Department of Agriculture’s final estimate of 38.
July futures for hard red winter wheat have slumped more than 20 percent this year on reports of good conditions for US crops.
The grain variety is mostly used to make bread.
The US’ heartland has seen a deluge of rain this spring. While that is bad for corn farmers who need fields to dry out so they can start planting, it has been a boon for winter wheat, which is already in the ground.
The heavy showers are bringing relief after prolonged drought conditions plagued the Great Plains.
Better yields would be a buffer for a smaller planted area. Low prices prompted farmers to cut acres to the lowest in a century.
The final harvest in Kansas could bring output of 306.5 million bushels, according to the average estimate of participants on the three-day crop tour.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last