Cochilco stated it forecasts demand for concentrates to rise 10.5% subsequent 12 months as China and India enhance their smelting capability, and new smelters come on-line in Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Provide, in the meantime, is projected to tighten 3.4%.
“Since 2019, we’ve seen a deficit within the international steadiness of concentrates, which has continued to this point and is predicted to worsen between 2024 and 2025,” Cochilco stated in its report.
“Consequently, TC/RC would attain a minimal in 2025,” it stated.
Cochilco stated it expects a deficit of 1.9 million tons of concentrates this 12 months, pushing processing expenses to $40 per ton and 4 cents per pound in 2024. Cochilco didn’t current a forecast for 2025.
In Chile, the world’s greatest copper producer, concentrates accounted for 53% of manufacturing final 12 months. They’re anticipated to rise to 77% by 2040, in keeping with Cochilco.
This 12 months, Cochilco stated Chile’s focus manufacturing is predicted to be pushed by Teck’s Quebrada Blanca, Codelco’s Chuquicamata and BHP’s Escondida, offsetting a decline at Anglo American’s Los Bronces, which closed a concentrator.
(By Fabian Andres Cambero; Modifying by Peter Graff)