Diego Hernandez, president of The Chilean mining company Sonami, noted that the COVID-19 crisis has had little impact on the mining industry, as reported by Chile's El Kurier newspaper on 6 May 2020. The situation will be contained and the outcome will be less negative. The second quarter of the year will be the most complicated period, and the situation should improve in the third quarter. The fourth quarter is expected to show similar developments to the first quarter, with mining production up 4.6 percent .
In terms of the future performance of the mining industry, Mr Hernandez thinks it is difficult to forecast, but based on the information they have so far, he expects global copper demand to decline by up to 4 per cent, but to fully recover next year with growth of between 4 and 5 per cent. On the copper supply side, some plant closures in countries such as Peru and Congo could lead to a 3.3 per cent drop in supplies. 'There may be a small surplus, but it won't have a big impact on prices,' he said.
But on Tuesday, Chile's constituent Assembly began formal debate on a new constitution to replace the market-centric one that dates back to the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. The text could reshape the world's largest copper producer.
Tá pleananna tosaigh maidir le náisiúnú na mianadóireachta, bunú parlaiminte aon seomra, cearta uisce agus cosaint na gcríoch dúchasach ar na rúin is suntasaí a phléifear agus a ndéanfar vótáil orthu i níos mó ná 20 seisiún iomlánach de chuid na parlaiminte.
"During this time we will see what is really preserved in the proposed constitution," said Maria Eliza Quinteros, president of the constituent Assembly. She noted that the text would face a national referendum planned for September.
The new constitution comes as Gabriel Boric, a 36-year-old leftist former student protest leader, takes office as president in March in what could mark the Andean country's most dramatic political and social shift since the restoration of democracy in 1990.
The new constitution has caused unease among investors and mining companies, challenging the country's market-oriented economic model, which dates back to economists under Pinochet's bloody military rule.
Déanfar na tograí a phlé sna míonna amach romhainn agus teastóidh cead ó dhá thrian de na toscairí, nó thart ar 103 vóta. Má dhéantar é a fhormheas, tabharfaidh siad aghaidh ar phróiseas leasaithe roimh an dara vóta deiridh chun iad a chorprú sa téacs deiridh. Má dhiúltaítear dóibh, rachaidh siad ar ais chuig an gcoiste lena leasú nó lena tharscaoileadh.
The prospect of dramatic change in the country has raised some alarm bells among conservatives, though Quinteros sought to allay concerns, saying there was a lot of "misinformation" in the process and that the proposal was in its early stages.
Ach de bharr na n-imní sin cailleadh roinnt tacaíochta don phróiseas, le suirbhé a rinne Cadem, pobalbhreith príobháideach, ag taispeáint go bhfuil céatadán na ndaoine a bhfuil sé ar intinn acu vótáil anois chun an bunreacht nua a cheadú tite ó 56 faoin gcéad go 47 faoin gcéad. .
The constitutional body, elected last year, is dominated by independent left-leaning representatives, some of whom grew out of a protest movement that erupted in 2019 over inequality in one of the region's richest countries.
Kenneth Bunker, director of Tresquntos, a consultancy, said it was an important moment to raise "concerns" to avoid "outlandish" motions moving forward and undermining trust in the process. But Bunker still thinks the new constitution will eventually be approved, despite the challenges it will pose to Boris's new government.
"In the short term, if this constitution is approved, the government of Gabriel Bolik will face a real challenge in balancing The social infrastructure of Chile with the current political and economic situation," he said.
