Copper Mine Spending Seen Sinking Below Financial-Crisis Levels
- Mining-project investment seen at lowest since 2007 next year
- Copper prices fell for five quarters, longest slump since '96
Copper Ore Mining
Photographr: Bartek Sadowski/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Mining investment next year will tumble to the lowest level since before the global financial crisis, giving some vindication to long-term copper bulls.
The amount companies spend to expand mining projects next year will fall to $11.1 billion, the lowest since 2007, from a high of $33.7 billion in 2012, according to data from Citigroup Inc. Such investment had climbed 15-fold in the 10 years leading up to the record, as demand from China surged and producers encouraged by rising prices expanded output.