UNITED KINGDOM October 21 2014 2:47 PMTweet 
LONDON (Scrap Register): The global copper market just got tighter in 2015 on the back of a major mine delay, said Morgan Stanley.

Further, the firm looks for the global supply/demand balance to post a fifth straight year of a shortage in 2014, with this spilling over into next year.

The International Copper Group agrees on Morgan Stanley 2014 assessment – last week the industry group reversed its oversupply call from earlier in the year and Morgan Stanley expects consensus will have to do the same given all the output shortfalls.

Chinese miner MMG announced last week its large-scale Las Bambas copper mine in Peru will cost more to finish and take longer to complete than previously expected, Morgan Stanley points out.

The company now guides the operation will begin in the first quarter of 2016 rather than mid-2015.

The delay and cost blowout was blamed on lack of skilled labor, project scope revisions and delays and higher costs to complete the town to relocate affected residents – all very common factors for the perennial delays in numerous copper projects over the past 10 years, said Morgan Stanley.

This closely follows an announcement from the operator of the giant Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia that it will miss its 2014 guidance by around 10,000 metric tons as a result of delays in mine development, Morgan Stanley added.