Chile's Antofagasta, one of the world's leading copper producers, expects copper prices to continue to be volatile due to global trade tensions, the head of the company was quoted in a local newspaper as saying on Sunday.
Ivan Arriagada, chief executive of Antofagasta, said he expected copper prices to be affected by global uncertainty, according to an interview published in Chilean newspaper La Tercera.
"In the short term, we are facing high volatility and we believe that volatility will persist," the CEO said.
"There is a level of concern in the industry because the fall in the price of copper has been considerable and, also, because inputs are rising," he added.
He said that the group is looking renew its more competitive energy contracts at a lower cost.
"Our margins are more compressed and we are very focused on working on internal costs and productivity," he said.
(Reporting by Fabian Cambero, writing by Hugh Bronstein Editing by Nick Zieminski)