en.Wedoany.com Reported - Chile is considering investing approximately $100 billion in its copper industry over the next decade to match data center demand, expand its customer base, and reduce reliance on the single Chinese market.

Chilean Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna stated at the Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summit in Singapore on Wednesday that Chile's export market is highly concentrated and needs to increase the number of regions purchasing its copper. To achieve this, Chile requires large-scale investments to shift from exporting copper concentrate to exporting refined copper. He noted that China, due to its vast industrial base, is likely to remain a significant customer for Chilean copper products, but with the global boom in data center construction, demand for copper should become more widespread.

Many countries are currently racing to secure copper supplies. Copper is a key raw material for power grids, electric vehicles, and data centers driving the global artificial intelligence boom. Pérez Mackenna said Chile has begun negotiations for a free trade agreement with India and will strengthen existing agreements with neighboring countries to expand more export markets.

China has been the largest buyer of Chilean copper for years, accounting for more than half of its exports. However, annual supply contract negotiations have become more difficult in recent years due to mine disruptions limiting global supply and the rapid expansion of China's smelting industry intensifying competition for copper concentrate. Market changes have prompted Chilean producer Antofagasta Plc to propose linking annual copper concentrate contracts to spot market indices, replacing fixed treatment and refining charges, challenging the industry's decades-old pricing system.