The strike at Centinela, one of Chile’s largest copper operations, began Wednesday morning after mediation failed last week (covered October 5). More than 700 workers across two unions downed tools in a dispute over pay and benefit equalization with other Antofagasta operations. The Minera Esperanza and Distrito Centinela unions, with 708 members combined, voted 98.73 percent in favor of the strike on September 28. RBC analysts have flagged that inventories outside the United States are already tight, and supervisors at BHP’s Escondida, the world’s largest copper mine, have also voted to strike, widening the Chilean supply risk. LME copper was trading around $14,365 a tonne on Wednesday, holding near all-time highs.
The timing compounds the market’s supply anxiety. Centinela’s 240,400 tonnes in 2025 represented a material share of Chile’s concentrate output, and any extended stoppage would land on a market already pricing record levels into the first session after China’s reopening. Antofagasta has not publicly detailed contingency plans for keeping the concentrator running.