March 26 (Reuters) – One of Mexico’s three copper refineries owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim’s Grupo Carso shut earlier this month, causing a rash of enquiries from domestic consumers looking for material, according to U.S. and Mexico-based market participants.
The Cobre de Mexico plant, which used blister as raw material to make cathode, was shut for environmental and cost reasons, according to Mexico-based sources.
An employee at the plant, located in Atzcapotzalco in the outskirts of Mexico’s capital, told Reuters production had stopped, but did not give any other details.
Grupo Carso declined to comment on the closure. Grupo Carso owns the plant through its subsidiary Condumex, according to Reuters’ database.
It had not been producing at full capacity, which market participants estimated at 150,000 tonnes per year, before the shutdown, according to industry sources.
“We were waiting for the closure. It’s because it’s in the middle of the city. There should be some additional demand for cathode because of this,” a trader in Mexico said.
The refinery, which was Mexico’s oldest according to Reuters’ records, is one of only three in the country. The two other refineries are operated by Industrias Penoles and Grupo Mexico SAB de CV.
