Mining News
What's holding back M&A in the copper space?
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(Kitco News) - Copper was the most popular metal at the BMO Global Metals, Mining & Critical Minerals Conference, noted BMO Capital Markets Commodity Analyst Colin Hamilton.
In February Hamilton was interviewed by Kitco correspondent Paul Harris at the event.
At the conference Hamilton noted that 75% of the attendees who were polled said they would like to hold copper over the next five years over any other metal. Despite copper's popularity, Hamilton noted there is not a lot of M&A in the copper sector.
"Everyone wants more copper, but no one's really pushing for it," said Hamilton. "There are very few assets around, so the bidding can get quite competitive, but also long-run prices probably haven't gone up enough."
Hamilton noted the increase of M&A in the battery metal space, especially by non-traditional players like automakers.
"They're coming out with big targets [that need to be filled] with raw materials and it's not something they've been used to over the past 20 years," said Hamilton.
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Decades of globalization have taught consumers to expect products and services to be filled on demand, noted Hamilton. People aren't used to waiting.
"With the lack of investment, that's no longer the case. What everyone can see now is that the pipelines are looking very thin," noted Hamilton. "That's what's got people concerned."
Coverage of the BMO Global Metals, Mining & Critical Minerals Conference was sponsored by First Majestic Silver.
