Unionised workers at Escondida, the world’s largest copper mine in northern Chile, went on strike on Tuesday 13 August. If the strike continues, the copper market could lose hundreds of millions of dollars.
Workers from Union No.1 at the Escondida mine, which means ‘hidden’, in northern Chile went on strike on Tuesday 13 August. The Escondida mine is a major source of copper, accounting for 5 per cent of the world’s total mined copper. The mine takes its name from the rich ore deposits ‘hidden’ beneath the Atamaca desert. While it is known that 90 per cent of the workers at Australia-based BHP, the world’s largest copper mining company, are members of the union, BHP, which owns 60 per cent of the shares in the Escondida mine, was shaken by the strike. The workers’ demands include a reduction in working days, an increase in bonuses and compensation payments, and the distribution of 1% of the mine’s shares to the workers. The distribution of shares to the workers, which is one of the main points of contention, amounts to $35,000 per worker. During the dispute, BHP offered the workers a bonus of $28,900, but the workers did not take up the offer, which was well below their expectations of $35,000.
BHP declares state of emergency
The process of reaching an agreement between BHP and the union continues. The company, in disagreement with the union over the demands, has declared a state of emergency and is continuing to mine with non-union labour. The union responded by accusing BHP of breaking strike rules by using reserve labour and demanding ‘an immediate end to this anti-union practice’.
In a statement, BHP said it had invited the union to resume talks on Tuesday, but that the invitation had gone unanswered, and that it had implemented its contingency plan and continued mining operations with non-union workers on minimum hours. On 14 August, the company offered the union to suspend the strike until 8pm on 15 August if negotiations continued. However, the union is not in favour of suspending the strike, even temporarily. According to the union, BHP has placed too many conditions on the resumption of negotiations, while at the same time replacing workers and engaging in anti-union activities. The union described the company’s demands and conditions as “making it impossible to resume talks” and complained that the company had given it too little time to assess the conditions and make a decision.
‘BHP could lose $795m if strike drags on’
Following the start of the strike, the French news agency AFP reported today that BHP shares had fallen by almost 1 per cent. US investment bank Goldman Sachs highlighted that the company would lose at least $250 million if the strike lasted 10 days, while Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual highlighted the union’s strike in 2017. According to BTG Pactual, if the current strike lasts as long as the one in 2017, BHP’s daily loss could be between $25m and $30m. The Brazilian investment bank noted in its report that the current situation is also damaging Chile’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product). Goldman Sachs estimated that if the strike lasted 44 days, the damage would reach USD 795 million.
Copper stock markets are shaky
In addition to the damage to the company, it is also interesting to see how the copper market will be affected by this strike. The copper market was shaken by the closure of the Panamanian copper company Cobre Panama in the final months of last year. If the current strike at the Escondida mine, which is very important to the market, has a similar result to the copper price spike caused by the strike in 2017, it could be very damaging to the market. According to the Australian Mining news agency, the Copper Exchange is struggling to hold on to its gains from the Covid-19 period. Despite the risk of disruption, copper prices are currently holding steady at the London Metal Exchange’s announced price of USD 8,968.50 per tonne, in line with weak demand from China. However, this could change if the strike continues.
