Operating Rates at Major Chinese Wire & Cable Producers Fall in December, SMM Survey Finds

Anglo Asian Mining (LSE:AAZ) produced 5,514 tonnes of copper in the third quarter, lifted by continued ramp-up at its Demirli mine in Azerbaijan, while keeping full-year copper, gold and silver guidance unchanged. Nine-month copper output reached 14,354 tonnes, the highest nine-month figure the AIM-listed company has reported. The gain reflects Demirli's expansion and a strategy to grow copper across the portfolio, with copper increasingly dominating a production mix that still includes gold and silver, where output was broadly flat year on year. Mining also resumed at the Ugur deposit. The company sold 28,987 tonnes of copper concentrate in the quarter for 80.5 million USD, plus 5,733 ounces of gold bullion at realised prices well above the prior-year period; no realised gold price was disclosed. It ended the quarter with a 56.5 million USD cash balance after a net outflow driven by dividends, tax payments and temporary working capital needs, alongside unsold inventory valued at about 27.0 million USD.

BHP and the supervisors' union at Chile's Escondida mine have reached a preliminary agreement to avert a strike at the world's largest copper operation. Union No. 2 members vote online between 9:15 and 11:30 a.m. local time; if they reject the offer, the stoppage would start Thursday at 8:00 a.m. local. The deal followed last-minute talks after earlier contract negotiations failed. Strike risk had supported copper prices on supply concerns; ratification would remove one near-term threat. Yet Chile's industry faces mounting operational risks: a deadly landslide at Codelco's El Teniente halted an open-pit section. GEM Mining Consulting's October study put average output at risk at Chile's biggest copper mines at 5.2%, with El Teniente at 9%, Los Pelambres at 8% and Escondida at 7.5%.

Rio Tinto's third-quarter production report, released on October 14, showed copper output of 205,000 tonnes, slightly above 204,000 tonnes a year earlier. Growth came mainly from the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia, where output rose 27% y-o-y. First-nine-month copper production totalled 646,000 tonnes, up 1% y-o-y. Iron ore output in Q3 was 74.573 million tonnes, above 72.949 million tonnes in Q2 and 74.168 million tonnes a year earlier; quarterly sales reached 90.8 million tonnes, mainly from the Pilbara operations in Australia. Nine-month iron ore output was 217.567 million tonnes, up from 210.124 million tonnes a year earlier. Other products: bauxite 15.7 million tonnes, alumina 2.1 million tonnes, and lithium carbonate equivalent 13,000 tonnes, up 4% y-o-y. Rio Tinto reaffirmed full-year iron ore sales guidance of 343-366 million tonnes for the 12 months to December, with production guidance for other commodities unchanged.