Main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange rises further to 978 points

On July 7, BHP announced that its Escondida copper mine expansion project in Chile had secured the first major environmental permit, officially commencing a total investment of approximately $14.7 billion. Chile’s Antofagasta Environmental Assessment Commission approved early-stage works covering sulfide leaching and power upgrades, costing approximately $1.3 billion. Escondida is the world’s largest copper mine, with BHP holding a 57.5% stake, Rio Tinto 30%, and the remainder held by a Japanese enterprise consortium. As the world’s largest copper ore producer, BHP plans to more than double annual production to over 2 million mt by the mid-2030s. The company expects to invest $10.7 billion to $14.7 billion in its Chilean operations over the coming years, and has applied for $1.5 billion to restart the Cerro Colorado mine and $5.9 billion to build a new beneficiation plant.

According to SMM, the overall operating rate of the enamelled wire industry was 71.96% in June, down 0.36 ppt MoM but up 2.03 ppts YoY. Large enterprises saw an operating rate of 76.49%, medium-sized enterprises 60.35%, and small enterprises 68.55%.

[SMM Shanghai spot copper] According to the Central Meteorological Observatory, the 9th typhoon this year, "Bavi," has intensified into a super typhoon. It is expected to approach the eastern sea areas of China around July 10, with a high probability of making landfall in east China. Affected by this, downstream copper semis processing plants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang were concerned that the subsequent strong winds and heavy rain brought by the typhoon could disrupt logistics, transportation, and production schedules. As a result, they concentrated on stockpiling purchases in advance, pushing the overall center of Shanghai spot copper premiums higher. Currently, transaction prices for domestic standard-quality copper are at premiums of around 70 yuan/mt to 90 yuan/mt.