In order to analyze the expectations of the different actors of the mining sector in Chile, regarding the situation of the country and the industry, Vantaz Group together with the Center for Copper and Mining Studies (CESCO) conducted the fifth version of the study "Mining Signals".
"This study is very relevant for Vantaz, since it gathers the industry's perception of the evolution of the mining ecosystem, allowing us to project how the market will behave in the next twenty-four months," says Daniela Desormeaux, Director of Research at Vantaz Group and Director of CESCO.
Through the four previous versions, the analysis has been able to capture how the pandemic, the constitutional process, the Royalty discussion and the whole political context has influenced the outlook for the mining industry.
Regarding different findings, Daniela Desormeaux highlights: "In general, Chile has favorable long-term prospects for the main minerals such as copper and lithium. Also, there is optimism in relation to the fundamentals in demand, which makes us think that it will continue to be attractive to invest in this industry. The sector will continue to grow, because there are more needs for minerals in the future".
However, perceptions regarding the environment are different. In this regard, the Chilean market is concerned about the social and regulatory environment. "We were in the midst of discussing the mining royalty and tax reforms, which generated greater uncertainty regarding the regulatory issue, which could interfere in one way or another in the short and medium term", explains the research director of Vantaz Group.
Thus, in the fifth edition of this study, a slight pessimism is observed in the general expectations of the industry, which is explained by the perception of the current social environment of the country. However, in both the regulatory and environmental areas, perceptions tend to be normal.
Nevertheless, respondents generally expect both mineral prices and demand to remain stable in the short term, but to increase in the medium term, particularly for copper and lithium.
Regarding input prices, respondents perceive that these will continue to rise, while both employment and investment are expected to increase in the medium term.
In this regard, Desormeaux comments, "If we look at the long term, the fundamentals have not changed compared to a year ago. However, today we are in a scenario of great pressure on mining costs. Therefore, if we have a context of lower production and higher costs, we will also see lower margins". We invite you to review the results of the fifth version of this study.
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