Codelco, der weltgrößte Kupferproduzent, wird am Jahresende seinen Vorrat an unverkauften Metall (200.000 t vom Vorjahr) erschöpft haben:
Codelco Says It Will Deplete Copper Stockpile by Year-End
Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, will exhaust its stockpile of unsold metal by the end of December, a spokesman said.
State-owned Codelco, stored 200,000 tons of copper cathodes in northern Chile last year amid lower prices for the metal.
``The stockpile has been decreasing at a rate of 18,000 tons a month,'' said spokesman Ivan Badilla.
It will deliver all of the stockpile to customers this year after agreeing sales contracts at the end of 2003. Prices have averaged $2,727 a ton in the first three quarters of this year, up 40 percent on the same period last year.
Copper, used in power cables and electrical wiring, has surged on strong demand for the metal in China and production disruptions at the world's two largest mines, BHP Billiton Plc's Escondida mine in Chile and Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold Inc's Grasberg mine in Indonesia.
Codelco pledged in 2002 that it would accumulate the stockpile, comprised of cathodes produced at the company's Chuquicamata and Radomiro Tomic mines, until inventories of copper in warehouses monitored by the London Metal Exchange, Comex and the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell below 800,000 tons.
Inventories in the three main exchanges fell below 800,000 tons in December and have plummeted to below 200,000 tons.