Following record copper production from Teck Resources Ltd., one analyst said he sees upside opportunities for industry players with the overall market facing tight supply. 

Dalton Baretto, a managing director of equity research at Canaccord Genuity, said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg Thursday that his firm is “very constructive on copper” due to supply-side dynamics. 

“Much has been made over the last couple of years on the demand side with decarbonization, green energy, electric vehicles and so on, but the story today is very much on the supply side and we had two major supply shocks happen very late in 2023,” he said. 

One of the major supply shocks facing the copper market, according to Baretto, was the Panama government ordering the shutdown of the Cobra Panama mine in December and the other was Anglo American Plc announcing significant production cuts that same month. 

Those two events have collectively “wiped out any potential surplus” in the market this year, he said. 

“We believe that now that we're past Chinese New Year, with that economy starting to ramp up again, we are going to see some real tightness in the copper market,” Baretto said. 

Baretto’s comments come as Teck Resources Ltd. reported fourth-quarter results on Thursday with record copper production and annual increases in profit. 

Those two events have collectively “wiped out any potential surplus” in the market this year, he said. 

“We believe that now that we're past Chinese New Year, with that economy starting to ramp up again, we are going to see some real tightness in the copper market,” Baretto said. 

Baretto’s comments come as Teck Resources Ltd. reported fourth-quarter results on Thursday with record copper production and annual increases in profit. 

The Vancouver-based mining company reported profit attributable to shareholders of $483 million during the quarter, up from $266 million a year earlier. Revenue came in at $4.11 billion during the quarter, up from $3.14 billion the previous year. 

Copper production in the fourth quarter reached 103,000 tonnes, from 65,000 tonnes during the same period the previous year. The majority of the production growth came as the company ramped up operations at its Quebrada Blanca mine in Chile, which saw copper concentrate production reach 34,300 tonnes during the fourth quarter and 55,500 tonnes during the year. 

With files from The Canadian Press.