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Copper crunch: two big production reports show why the metal is getting harder to come by

Kitco Media
By Michael McCrae
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Problems with the copper market were exemplified by two big production reports released this week, noted mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.  

On Friday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable.  

This week Goldman Sachs predicted prices could reach a record high of $11,000 a tonne within in a year. Copper is expected to be undersupplied in 2023 and "peak supply is now immovably fixed in mid-2024 ... generating deficits from that point." wrote the Goldman Sach analysts, according to reporting by Reuters. 

Two big miners announced downward revisions for copper the same week as the Goldman report.  

Glencore forecast copper production of 1.04 million tonnes in 2023, down from 1.06 million this year.  

And today Anglo American announced in its production report that copper in 2023 is now 840-930kt instead of 910-1,020kt. The company said that copper production in 2023 and 2024 is "...impacted by lower grades across all operations, as well as an increase in ore hardness at Los Bronces, impacting throughput."

Kitco Media

Michael McCrae

Michael McCrae is leading Kitco's coverage of the mining sector. McCrae, who has both an MBA and CMA, knows how to build digital media properties. He was co-founder and publisher of MINING.com, an award-winning news site. Before coming to media, McCrae worked in IT and banking. Please reach out: mmccrae@kitco.com or (514) 670-1383. You can also follow him at @michaelmccrae.

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