* World top copper producer says optimistic on prices
* Codelco says could issue debt in H2 2012
* CEO says worried about Chile energy in long-term
By Alexandra Ulmer and Fabian Cambero
SANTIAGO, April 16 (Reuters) – Chilean state copper giant
Codelco expects the global copper market to remain
tight this year, is optimistic about prices, and could issue
debt in the second half if conditions are favorable, Chief
Executive Diego Hernandez said on Monday.
Hernandez said, however, he was worried about future energy
supplies, saying Codelco had covered its needs for the next six
to seven years.
Chile’s shaky energy grid needs significant new investment
after years of neglect, exacerbated by a devastating 2010
earthquake and droughts. But the mounting opposition to
hydro-power, coal-fired thermoelectric plants and wind farm
projects is making investors jittery.
“If China grows 7.5 percent, we believe supply/demand will
again be quite tight this year. We are optimistic on prices this
year,” Hernandez told foreign journalists at a lunch hosted by
Codelco at its headquarters during CESCO week in Santiago.
Hernandez added he believed some in the industry could delay
copper projects if copper prices fall below $3 a lb. In New
York, the May COMEX contract settled up 10 cents at
$3.6280 per lb on Monday.
Hernandez said Codelco was interested in getting into
Mexico’s mining sector in future, as the company eyes foreign
markets for exploration.
He also said he expected an initial ruling in an acrimonious
stake option spat with global miner Anglo American
between the end of this year and mid-2013.
The mining titans have been embroiled in a bitter dispute
after Anglo preemptively sold 24.5 percent of its
southern-central Chilean properties from under Codelco.
That stymied Codelco’s bid to exercise an option to buy up a
49 percent stake in the proprieties, setting the stage for an
acrimonious legal battle Hernandez said could last 3-4 years.
