Strike Begins at Highland Valley Copper as 1,200+ Workers Walk Off the Job
TECK sits 59% above its 52-week low of $38.
Summary
More than 1,200 unionized workers at Highland Valley Copper walked off the job Saturday after contract talks failed, and Teck says operations are running at reduced capacity. This is the strike that USW Local 7619 telegraphed with its 72-hour notice last week. Highland Valley is expected to produce 115K-135K metric tons of copper this year, so the hit to Teck's output scales directly with how long the stoppage lasts — the company said as much. The union wants higher wages and better pensions, citing staffing shortages. Teck is also building an expansion meant to extend the mine's life to 2046 from 2028, which adds cost and schedule risk if the labor dispute drags. Q3 earnings are due October 29, before market open, and will be the first venue for management to size the production impact.
At the time of this announcement, TECK was trading at $60.37 on NYSE in the Energy & Transportation sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $29B. The 52-week trading range was $38.00 to $72.56. This news item was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: Seeking Alpha.