SMM5, 8 March:

Since mid-March, the number of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Peru, Chile, Africa and other copper resource countries began to rise, and resource countries began to restrict mine production / port transportation in the middle and late March, resulting in certain disturbances at the supply end of the global mining industry represented by copper mines.

The market is generally worried about the supply of copper concentrates in the second quarter and even throughout the year. Judging from the processing fees for imported copper concentrates, it also began to reverse after mid-March. As of May 8, the SMM copper concentrate index (weekly) was at $54.21 / tonne, down more than $15 / tonne from its peak.

Imported copper concentrate TC

So far, the world's major mining enterprises have basically disclosed the first quarter report. In addition to reporting Q1 copper production in 2020, most mining enterprises have also explained that mine production has been disturbed by the epidemic situation, and have correspondingly updated the guidelines for copper production for the whole of 2020. According to SMM collation summary, because the epidemic disturbance occurred in the middle and late March, there was no significant impact on Q1 production. According to the updated production guidelines, major copper enterprises have cut their production guidelines by nearly 400000 tons, with reference to the annual growth rate of 450000 tons of global copper mines given at the beginning of the year. Global copper production is close to zero growth in 2020.