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Grupo Mexico's Asarco to reopen U.S. copper smelter amid rising rates

Asarco, the mining business controlled by industrial corporation Grupo Mexico, is planning to restart its mothballed copper smelter in the United States as rates for the red metal hit record highs, 2 sources with direct knowledge of the company's strategies informed .

Asarco, first bought by Grupo Mexico in 1999, remains in negotiations with unionized workers to reboot the Hayden smelter in Arizona and nearby copper mines, in addition to the Amarillo refinery in Texas, the sources said.

Resuming Hayden would enhance supply of the essential red metal across the nation - which uses twice the amount of refined copper it produces due to the fact that it only has two domestic smelters: Freeport McMoRan's's Miami smelter in Arizona and Rio Tinto's Kennecott smelter in Utah.

The sources said recent copper price rallies inspired Asarco to reboot Hayden provided an acute need for copper smelting in the United States.

Mexico City-based Grupo Mexico declined to comment.

Copper demand is anticipated to grow progressively in coming years, sustained largely by the global tidy energy transition and the rising use of artificial intelligence. Current cost dives, though, seem driven in part by speculative activity.

The most traded front month copper contract on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, likewise called Comex, has gotten 24%. given that January, hitting a record $5.1985 per pound today.

The Comex rally, surpassing proceed the London Metal. Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange, was driven by a. speculative spree that required those who had bet on costs. falling to cover their positions.

Traders, including Trafigura and IXM, have been. rushing to deliver metal to CME warehouses in the United States. to cover short positions, but copper produced in China - which. smelts half of the world's copper, is not CME-deliverable. Russian copper, which represents 60% of LME stock, is also. not eligible for U.S. shipment.

MOTHBALLED

Asarco's smelter, situated about 100 miles (161 km) southwest. of Phoenix, has not been completely operational for more than 4. years after a labor strike by its unionized labor force. It has. extensive environmental damage and is thought about a Superfund. hazardous waste website by the U.S. Environmental Management. Company.

It was not right away clear when Asarco plans to formally. reboot smelting operations, but the company remains in negotiations. now with a union representing mining and smelting workers,. according to one source. Asarco is concentrated on finalizing a. contract with miners first and after that personnel for the smelter, the. source added.

The business last June filed for an extension of the. smelter's air quality license - which had actually been set to expire in. December - with state and federal officials, a request that is. under review.

Asarco just recently hosted a delegation from Peru, the world's. second-largest copper producing nation, at the facility, one. source said.

Concentrates from Asarco's close-by Ray and Objective mines are. sold now primarily to Chinese smelters.

When last operational, Hayden had an annual capacity of 300. million pounds (136,078 metric lots) and processed copper. extracted from the Ray mine.

By resuming complete operations at the Hayden smelter, Asarco. would be able to procedure that focus into a product understood. as copper cathode that can be utilized by its refinery in Amarillo,. Texas, to make wire rod and other products.

Asarco's RAY and ATR branded copper cathodes could be. delivered onto Comex for agreement settlement.

The plans likewise highlight tight international supply of copper. focuses, a kind of crushed, flotated ore utilized by smelters. to make copper.

Treatment charge, an indication of copper focuses. accessibility, turned to unfavorable for the very first time ever in. April.

The United States produced 880,880 metric lots of fine-tuned. copper in 2015, according to the International Copper Study. Group, although it imported 770,900 metric loads and consumed. over 1.6 million metric tones of refined copper.

(source: Reuters)