Southern Copper Chief Sees $4.00 Per Pound Copper In 2011

LIMA -(Dow Jones)- Southern Copper Corp. (SCCO) Chief Executive Oscar Gonzalez Rocha said Thursday that copper prices will be about $4 per pound for the year due to continued Chinese demand and tight supply.

"We don't believe the Chinese will stop investing," he said.

Copper is currently trading around $4.50 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gonzalez Rocha told reporters that tight supply will also underpin copper prices due to a number of major copper mining projects that have yet to come into production.

Southern Copper is majority-owned by Grupo Mexico (GMEXICO.MX), and Rocha said he expects by midyear a recommendation from an independent committee on the proposed merger between Southern Copper and another Grupo Mexico mining unit, Asarco LLC of the U.S.

Last July, Grupo Mexico proposed merging Southern Copper with Asarco LLC into a subsidiary, Americas Mining Corp., which it would then list on New York and Lima stock exchanges.

A special committee was formed in August 2010 to examine the proposal.

Southern Copper operates mines, smelting and refining facilities in Mexico and Peru.

(Source: http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2011/02/17/southern-copper-chief-sees-400-pound-copper-2011/)