State-owned China metals firm Jiangxi Copper Co Ltd plans to make an acquisition in mineral-rich Africa, president and chairman Long Ziping said, as the country's top integrated copper producer aims to step up overseas expansion.
Long, appointed chairman last month, didn't identify potential targets nor say how much his firm would spend, saying only there were "some plans" for African M&A in an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the 19th Communist Party Congress.
Over the past decade, China has invested heavily in Africa, especially in copper-rich Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, in a bid to secure crucial raw materials for its heavy industry.
In market trends, Jiangxi Copper's Long said a recent spike in copper prices to above $7,000 per tonne was mainly down to private equity funds piling into the market.
"There is no problem in terms of supply and demand," he said, adding that companies "could handle" a reported ban on traders importing scrap copper from next year.
"Since overall supply and demand have not changed, I think the price should be $6,500" in 2018, Long said. "If prices get as high as $7,200, there are also speculative investors in there."
The biggest increase in copper demand this year came from China's booming electric vehicle sector, Long said, without providing any figures.
Asked about treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) set by the China Smelters Purchasing Team (CSPT), of which Jiangxi Copper is a member, Long said smelters would wait until their executives return from the LME Week conference, being held from Oct. 30 to Nov. 3 in London, before discussing their views on 2018 charges.
The CPST set its TC/RCs at $95 per tonne and 9.5 cents per pound, respectively, for the fourth quarter of this year.
Contract renegotiations for 2018 with copper concentrate suppliers have similarly not yet begun, said Long, whose vice president, Wu Yuneng, will attend the LME Week event on behalf of Jiangxi Copper.
