SANTIAGO, April 7 (Reuters) – China’s economic problems are minor and are unlikely to trigger a crisis in the world’s biggest metals consumer, the chief executive officer of Chilean miner Antofagasta Minerals Plc told Reuters on Monday.
Copper prices fell to 3-1/2-year lows in March after a bond default by a Chinese company aroused fears about credit problems in the country. Prices have since steadied, though investors remain wary of slowing growth rates in the Asian giant.
Mining industry veteran Diego Hernandez, who used to head Chilean state copper producer Codelco and base metals at BHP Billiton, brushed aside major fears about the health of the buyer of 40 percent of the world’s copper.
“We think the Chinese economy is fairly solid,” he said during an interview in his office in Chile, the world’s top producer of the red metal, as part of the CESCO/CRU copper conference. “It may have some problems, but they’re minor.”
Still, the copper market could tilt into a small surplus if new and expanded deposits come on line as promised, Hernandez said. Contributing to that would be the London-listed company’s own production, as first-quarter output was on target, Hernandez said.