An eight-day-long strike by Chilean port workers at the northern port of Antofagasta is set to run through the weekend, leaving 75,000 tonnes of export copper high and dry.
Antofagasta ships most of Chile’s annual copper output, which tallies about 4.6 million tonnes.
Some 700 workers (from seven shipping companies) walked off the job after talks over wage increases collapsed.
The two sides are about $2,500 pesos apart. The union is demanding $15,000 pesos for a 7.5-hour shift and the employers are offering $12,500 pesos, according to Reuters.
“We hope for an agreement today,” Luis Mendez, a union leader, told Reuters. “But if not, the strike continues until Monday at least.”
Affected by the strike are such as:
- the Chuquicamata and Radomiro Tomic mines, owned by the Chilean state’s Codelco;
- Escondida, the world’s largest copper mine, owned by BHP-Billiton and Rio Tinto (RTP-N); and
- the Zaldivar mine, owned by Placer Dome (PDG-T).
Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, says Chuquicamata, its largest mine, has already delayed shipment of 9,000 tonnes copper. Another 21,700 tonnes are scheduled for loading on Sunday.
The miner says it could re-route shipments through other ports, but it would be expensive and there has been talk of sympathy strikes at other ports, including Arica, Iquique, Tocopilla and Coquimbo.
“Between now and Monday, we could very well paralyze all ports from Arica to Coquimbo,” Jorge Silva, a union leader, told a local newspaper.
Last year, Chile’s copper exports amounted to about US$7.35 billion.
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