Capstone Copper shares jump as Chile upgrades price outlook
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The news: Miner Capstone Copper was the best performing ASX 200 company in early afternoon trade, as Chile raised its price projections for the metal.
The numbers: Capstone shares were up 6.6% to $8.85 at 12:40pm AEST. Rival copper explorer Sandfire Resources edged up 0.9%.
The Chilean government's copper commission, Cochilco, said it expects copper prices to average USD4.30 ($6.70) a pound this year and next, compared with its previous forecast of USD4.25 for both years, Bloomberg reported.
The context: Copper prices have fluctuated in recent weeks, surging above USD5.20 in late March ahead of US President Donald Trump's tariff announcements, before sliding below USD4.20 two weeks later. The current price is just below USD4.70 a pound.
In its latest report, Cochilco said the global trade outlook has improved after the US and China entered a 90-day tariff truce, with copper demand projected to grow 2.3% this year.
A decline in global production, including lower quarterly output by global firms Freeport-McMoRan, Glencore and Anglo American, is also supporting prices.
Chile is the biggest copper-producing country, accounting for around a quarter of the world's mined copper.
The source: Bloomberg
