- The world's biggest copper mine moves closer to a strike after union leaders call on workers at the Escondida mine in Chile to reject owner BHP's final wage offer.
- The 2,300-member union is set to vote on BHP's contract offer between Thursday and Saturday this week.
- While terms of BHP's offer are not released, the union is demanding an additional bonus equivalent to 1% of dividends paid to the mine's owners as recognition of sacrifices made by workers, especially during the pandemic.
- A prolonged strike at the mine which produced 1.2M metric tons of copper last year would constrict already tight global supplies of the metal and likely send already high prices even higher.
- ETFs: COPX, CPER, JJCTF, JJC
- While demand rising, inventories falling and floods in China adding to supply concerns, copper prices this week jumped to their highest in six weeks.