15/02/2022
Shares of copper mining company Antofagasta look set to deflate because of a political lurch to the left in Chile, raising the possibility of higher taxes on resource companies. Recent drops in the price of copper aren’t helping either.
As a result, investors might want to reduce their positions in the stock (ticker: ANTO: United Kingdom).
The major issue for U.K.-incorporated Antofagasta is Chile, where the company’s mines are based. In May, Chile’s lower house approved a bill that would impose a new royalty fee on producers operating in the top copper-producing nation.
“The left-wing is on the ascension in Chile, and that doesn’t bode well for where the taxes come out in the end,” says Tyler Broda, head of EU mining research at Canadian financial company RBC Capital Markets in London. “We think it is going to be hard for the shares to hold in where they are.”