Grupo Mexico evaluating US investments after scaled-back copper tariff
MEXICO CITY - Grupo Mexico, a major copper producer, is looking to decide on investments for projects in the United States within the next three to five years, an executive said on a call on Wednesday, as Washington prepares to levy tariffs on some copper products.
US copper prices plunged on Wednesday after an order signed by President Donald Trump fell short of the sweeping restrictions expected and left out copper input materials such as ores, concentrates and cathodes.
Grupo Mexico had earlier said it saw the proposed tariffs as an opportunity to invest some $6-billion in expanding copper projects in Arizona run by its local subsidiary Asarco, including reopening a mothballed smelting operation.
"Now with the recent developments, we're continuously evaluating if we should or we should not restart our Hayden operation," Leonardo Contreras, finance chief of Grupo Mexico's mining division told analysts in a conference call.
"We will continue to monitor on how these global changes happen on a daily basis," Contreras added.
The tariff was intended to promote domestic development but the United States depends on imports for nearly half of its refined copper needs, and homegrown projects often take years to get off the ground.
Chile, Canada and Mexico are currently its main suppliers, though China buys the bulk of their exports.
Grupo Mexico said that although the trade war between the US and China could affect global economic growth and consequently demand for copper, it maintained a "very positive" outlook for long-term copper growth in Asia.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation