Sunday, 07 Feb 2010
Reuters reported that Southern Copper Corporation sees average copper prices at USD 3.25 per pound in 2010, as it expects emerging and developed economies to boost demand of the metal.

As per report, copper which is used in construction, rose 140% in 2009 on strong Chinese buying and supply concerns but fell 8.5% in January as rising inventories suggested demand outside China was weak.

Mr Genaro Guerrero CFO of Southern Copper said that "We believe that inventories of copper will start to die off during the year, reversing the last month's trend." He said that he expected buying from emerging economies like China to support prices through this year, as well as rising consumption in developed countries like the US.

Southern Copper also gave guidance for its 2010 production on the call. It put its copper production estimate for this year at 500,000 tonnes, slightly above the 485,376 tonnes it mined this year and its molybdenum forecast at 18,500 tonnes, in line with last year's output. The company said that it expected its zinc sales this year be around 110,000 tonnes and its silver sales to come in near 16 million ounces in 2010.

(Sourced from Reuters)