Chile's 8.8 earthquake occurred, as the world's largest copper producing country, this earthquake may cause the recent high international copper prices moving sharply rising again.
According to Hong Kong, "Wen Wei Po" quoted foreign reports, the quake may also spread to the world's largest copper industry in Chile. Chile's copper storage capacity, output and export volume ranking first in the world's proven reserves of up to 2 million tons, accounting for 34% of the world's reserves. In 2007 occurred in northern Chile, 7.7 magnitude earthquake has made the Chilean copper industry, loss of 2,000 million U.S. dollars.
After the earthquake, Anglo American Group 2 output about 28 million tonnes of copper market, ceased operation due to power outages, leading to a copper mine near Santiago, the road was also blocked. Codelco, Chile's state-owned mining enterprises two mines near the epicenter, including the world's largest underground copper mine ElTeniente, not yet known whether the mine operation is affected, the Chilean government spokesman, it means no damage to the mine.
Global mining giant BHP Billiton in northern Chile has the world's largest ace Escondida copper mine, the local union, said yesterday, to maintain normal operation of the mine. The majority of Chile's major copper mines in the north, and at least 800 kilometers away from the epicenter, but there are many stores near San Diego.
In the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper for May delivery rose 2.3 percent to close at the price the day before yesterday, a total of the whole in February, the international price of copper accumulated increase of 7.6% since August last year, the largest monthly increase. The Chile earthquake may hit the local short-term copper production, or will further stimulate the rise in copper prices.
