Chile: Anglo American and Xstrata's Collahuasi venture – the world's third largest copper mine – declared force majeure after an accident closed down its port, reports Bloomberg.
Collahuasi won't ship copper from the Patache port in northern Chile until further notice, said the company in a statement.
Three workers died after a ship-loader at the port collapsed on December 18. Force majeure is invoked by companies when they can't meet obligations because of circumstances beyond their control.
A disruption at Collahuasi is set to further tighten supplies of copper in a market where prices have risen to a record because of increasing demand and a decline in warehouse stockpiles.
Collahuasi produced 535,000 metric tonnes last year, or 3.5 percent of global output.