CESCO: Rio Tinto Executive Still Sees Robust Demand For Copper
--Harding: continued industrialization in China, emerging markets to underpin copper demand
--Harding said: copper supply to continue to be limited
--Rio's first-quarter copper production fell 13% from a year earlier
(Adds Rio first-quarter copper production in the sixth paragraph, supply outlook in the seventh paragraph, Mongolia project goals in the eighth paragraph, and Kennecott expansion in the ninth paragraph.)
Slowing growth in China and Europe's debt crisis won't derail the long-term outlook for the copper industry, which should continue to benefit from robust demand for the metal and challenges in bringing new supply online, the chief executive of Rio Tinto PLC's (RIO, RIO.LN) copper unit said Tuesday.
"While in the short term we will see continued volatility, the long-term copper demand picture has not changed," Andrew Harding said at the CESCO copper industry conference here. Harding said continued industrialization in China and other emerging markets would underpin demand for the industrial metal.
"I am confident that growth in China will stay at the levels we're currently seeing," Harding said. He added, however, that growth would likely remain at a slower pace than the double-digit expansion in gross domestic product seen during parts of the last decade.
China is the world's top copper consumer, accounting for about 40% of global use of the metal. Copper is widely used in electricity and construction, and has been a key ingredient in China's rapid industrialization.
Copper supply, Harding said, would continue to be limited as years of mining have depleted the better part of many copper deposits.
Rio reported Tuesday that its first-quarter copper production fell 13% from a year earlier, largely due to declines in copper-ore quality at its Kennecott mine in Utah.
Harding doesn't expect the structural supply shortages in the copper market to change, despite massive investment in new and expanded mine projects globally.
Rio's Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia is expected to record its first sales next year, Harding said, eventually ramping up to annual production of 450,000 metric tons of copper and 330,000 ounces of gold.
Rio also is expanding its open-pit mine at Kennecott, among other projects.
-By Matt Day, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-4986; matt.day@dowjones.com
--Harding said: copper supply to continue to be limited
--Rio's first-quarter copper production fell 13% from a year earlier
(Adds Rio first-quarter copper production in the sixth paragraph, supply outlook in the seventh paragraph, Mongolia project goals in the eighth paragraph, and Kennecott expansion in the ninth paragraph.)
Slowing growth in China and Europe's debt crisis won't derail the long-term outlook for the copper industry, which should continue to benefit from robust demand for the metal and challenges in bringing new supply online, the chief executive of Rio Tinto PLC's (RIO, RIO.LN) copper unit said Tuesday.
"While in the short term we will see continued volatility, the long-term copper demand picture has not changed," Andrew Harding said at the CESCO copper industry conference here. Harding said continued industrialization in China and other emerging markets would underpin demand for the industrial metal.
"I am confident that growth in China will stay at the levels we're currently seeing," Harding said. He added, however, that growth would likely remain at a slower pace than the double-digit expansion in gross domestic product seen during parts of the last decade.
China is the world's top copper consumer, accounting for about 40% of global use of the metal. Copper is widely used in electricity and construction, and has been a key ingredient in China's rapid industrialization.
Copper supply, Harding said, would continue to be limited as years of mining have depleted the better part of many copper deposits.
Rio reported Tuesday that its first-quarter copper production fell 13% from a year earlier, largely due to declines in copper-ore quality at its Kennecott mine in Utah.
Harding doesn't expect the structural supply shortages in the copper market to change, despite massive investment in new and expanded mine projects globally.
Rio's Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia is expected to record its first sales next year, Harding said, eventually ramping up to annual production of 450,000 metric tons of copper and 330,000 ounces of gold.
Rio also is expanding its open-pit mine at Kennecott, among other projects.
-By Matt Day, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-4986; matt.day@dowjones.com
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