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Gold/Mining/Energy : Copper - analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stephen O who wrote (1387)	2/9/2006 11:55:59 AM
From: Stephen O	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2131

Codelco, BHP Billiton Chile Unions Seek Raises as Prices Surge 2006-02-09 10:43 (New York) By Heather Walsh Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Unions at Codelco, the world's biggest copper producer, and at BHP Billiton Plc and Falconbridge Ltd. will make wage demands that may spark labor disputes this year in Chile, where a strike last month pushed copper prices to a record. Workers at BHP Billiton's Escondida, the world's largest copper mine, are among those set for wage talks this year who will demand salaries that reflect rising profits, after a 61 percent jump in copper prices in 12 months. ``We have expectations for substantial improvements,'' said Nevenko Diaz, a director at Workers' Union No. 1 at Escondida. Falconbridge Ltd.'s Altonorte smelter, and Codelco's Andina and Chuquicamata mines in Chile also will hold wage talks as high copper prices increase the chance of labor disputes leading to strikes, said Cesar Perez-Novoa, head of research at brokerage Celfin Capital in Santiago. Labor unrest in Chile, the world's biggest supplier of the metal, would increase prices by heightening concern about supply disruptions, Perez-Novoa said. ``We hope the process will be normal and peaceful, though we can't guarantee there will be no strike,'' union leader Diaz said. ``The only means of pressure you have is a strike.'' Copper prices last month rose to a record on the first day of a 17-day strike by contractors' employees at two Codelco mines in central Chile amid concern that production would be cut. Santiago- based Codelco, which is owned by the government, said the protest failed to reduce output. Copper for March delivery rose 3.75 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $2.3120 a pound at 10:01 a.m. New York time on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices climbed to a record $2.3390 a pound on Feb. 7, and have more than tripled from a 14- year low of 60.35 cents a pound in 2001. Higher wages probably will add to costs at miners that already are paying more for supplies such as steel and fuel, said Deneb Schiele, an analyst at ratings company Feller-Rate Clasificadora de Riesgo in Santiago. --Editor: Kleege.