Copper skids on talks of end to Chile mine strike

LONDON: Copper prices fell in London and New York on speculation talks between workers and management at Chile’s Escondida, the world’s biggest copper mine, may resolve a three-week-old strike over pay. Aluminum also dropped.

BHP Billiton, Escondida’s owner, has invited workers to agree individual labour contracts as it seeks to reopen the mine. Chilean law allows strikers to negotiate individually to return to work 15 days after a strike begins, the mine said on Monday. The union representing 1,906 workers said BHP Billiton’s latest offer was rejected in a vote.

“The two sides are not completely far apart,” said Edward Meir, a commodities analyst at Man Financial in Darien, Connecticut, adding “I think the market is sensing there will be some sort of compromise.”

Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange dropped $90, or 1.2%, to $7,560 a metric tonne at 2-14 pm in London time. Copper for December delivery fell 5.8 cents, or 1.7%, to $3.431 a pound on the Comex division f the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The price of copper, used in wires and pipes, has more than doubled in the past year as demand soared in China and strikes disrupted supply. Escondida’s workers are asking for a greater slice of record profits from Melbourne-based BHP Billiton.