Sentiment soured due to rising interest rates, mounting fears of global recession and paltry growth in China’s main copper-consuming sectors. These trends overwhelmed a market that is facing fundamentally undersupplied conditions just as scrutiny of mining operations adds to higher cost of capital. Sentiment is now recovering.
China’s CMOC, operator of Tenke mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is in dispute over export permits, posing risks to output.
Bilateral tensions will rise; Panama’s government is demanding USD375mn in taxes and royalties from Canada’s copper producer First Quantum.
Efforts to increase supply are rising: Indonesia’s government has warned miners to speed up smelter development or face some export bans.
Quellaveco copper operation in Peru, owned by Anglo American and Mitsubishi, is beginning to produce its first copper concentrate.
Brazil’s Vale will separate its base metal assets from its flagship iron ore operations and unveil a strategic partner during 2023.
