Chilean copper producer Codelco expects the price of copper in the second half of the year at $ 3 a pound (about $ 6600 per ton) against the backdrop of China's efforts to curb growth and prevent overheating of the economy, reported Dow Jones citing the Executive Director of Diego Hernandez. «China has been the locomotive of copper consumption, but any attempt to restrain the growth of the Chinese economy may affect the price of copper in the short term," — said in an interview, Mr. Hernandez, adding that he expects continued volatility in the copper market, although the current supply and demand balance will keep the price of copper at a relatively high level in the medium term. «As companies prefer to invest in projects of their own funds rather than borrow to invest, this is the reason that the copper market in the coming years will experience stress," — said Mr. Hernandez.
According to him, the Codelco has good prospects for continued leadership position in the copper market due to the amount of capital and sufficient government support projects that will enable the company to achieve by 2017 the level of production of copper 2 million tons per year.
When asked about the rumors in relation to the fact that Codelco may nominate its shares on the stock exchange for fresh financial injections and the public to participate in the growth of the company, Mr. Hernandez said that a national consensus on this issue is not yet available, but overall stock market listing is not so important for Codelco, as she has all the necessary tools to implement good business.