Loading ...In New York on Friday copper for delivery in March jumped by more than 4% to $2.7710 per pound or $6,100 a tonne after BHP Billiton declared force majeure at its Escondida mine in Chile.
Copper is now trading at its highest level since late May 2015 with year-to-date gains of just under 10%. BHP confirmed on Friday it could no longer meet contractual obligations on metals shipments from the mine, the world’s largest copper operation by a wide margin.
Some 2,500 workers at Escondida walked off the job on Thursday and all indications are that the union is preparing for an extended fight over wages and benefits
cont. http://www.mining.com/copper-price-surges-bhp-force-majeure/