Copper Mining Projects Delayed by Financing Woes, ICGS's Risopatron Says

Nov 2 (Bloomberg) -- Global copper concentrate output capacity will expand by less than 2.5 million metric tons between 2010 and 2013 amid financing difficulties, said the International Copper Study Group today.

Copper supply has been tight and the financial crisis has delayed mine development, with projects representing more than 9 million tons of concentrate struggling to find funding, said Carlos Risopatron, head of the group’s environment and economics. Still, Chinese companies are expected to boost mining overseas, he said.

Copper in London last month reached the highest price since July 2008, on concern demand will outstrip supply and as a weaker dollar prompted investors to seek alternative investments. Imports of copper concentrate by China, the largest consumer of the metal, climbed to a record in September as smelters ramped up production in response to rising treatment charges. Concentrate is the raw material used to make copper.

"There are lots of investment opportunities for Chinese companies,” said Risopatron at a conference in Ningbo. "It’s time for Chinese companies to find good projects.”

Concentrates were scarce in the last several years as smelters in China added capacity and the world financial crisis delayed mining projects.

China Shipments

Inbound shipments of copper concentrate by China jumped to 683,523 tons last month, up 22 percent from a year earlier, the Beijing-based customs office said Oct. 25. That’s a record, according to Fu Bin, an analyst at Jinrui Futures Co., a unit of Jiangxi Copper Co., China’s biggest producer.

Three-month copper gained as much as 0.4 percent to $8,335 a ton and traded at $8,314 a ton on the London Metal Exchange at 3:04 p.m. in Singapore.

Chinese-controlled copper mine capacity overseas may grow by 10 times, or 1 million tons, as a result of Beijing’s push to secure raw material to feed growth, the ICSG forecast.

Global smelting capacity may increase by 2.5 million tons from 2010 to 2014, with most projects coming on stream between 2012 and 2014, Risopatron said. China will add 545,000 tons by 2014, he said.