As of Thursday March 19, more copper, zinc and lead producers have reduced or halted operation in light of the rapidly changing conditions arising from travel restrictions in place across South American countries.
Fastmarkets has summed up the latest list of disruptions and developments in South American base metals:
Chile, the biggest copper producing country, restricted travel into the country and declared a national emergency on Monday because of the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.
State-owned producer Codelco, accounting for one-third of the nation's copper output, will reduce operations for 15 days to limit number of staff on site from Thursday March 19 onward.
Codelco, owner of mega copper projects Chuquicamata and El Teniente, has
not made an estimate on the impact on output.
In Northern Chile, Escondida - the world's largest copper mine - workers filed a request on Wednesday March 18 for operator BHP to adopt preventive measures to prevent spread of the pandemic on site.
The union planned to ask Chile's federal labor and health departments to halt...