Chile Cochilco Poll: Copper Seen Averaging $3.11/Pound In 2010

SANTIAGO, Jul 06, 2010 (Dow Jones Commodities News Select via Comtex) -- Copper likely will average $3.11 a pound in 2010 and $3.16 in 2011, according to a poll of 16 local mining analysts published Tuesday by Chilean state copper studies commission Cochilco.

The latest poll is less optimistic regarding prices for copper than the previous poll of mining analysts published in April when copper prices were expected to average $3.35 a pound this year and $3.29 a pound in 2011.

Concerns over Greece's debt woes and the contagion into the rest of the euro-zone has increased market volatility, and "copper prices haven't been isolated from these macro-trends," Cochilco's Studies Director Ana Isabel Zuniga said in a statement.

In the second quarter of 2010, copper is expected to fetch an average $2.95 a pound, gaining to an average $3.01 in the third quarter, according to the poll.

In the previous poll, analysts had expected a $3.49/lb average for the second quarter and $3.35/lb in the third quarter.

For 2012, analysts expect copper to average $3.21 a pound.

Chile is the world's largest copper producer, and the government receives a sizable income from copper sales and private miners' income and royalty taxes. Thus, copper prices are considered a significant variable in the local economy.

Cochilco will release its next copper price poll in early October.