MELBOURNE: Shanghai Futures Exchange copper was up 0.4 percent at 48,770 yuan ($7,096) a tonne on Monday, buoyed by supply worries after the world’s second-biggest copper mine in Indonesia said it could not deliver promised shipments due to export permit issues.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc’s Indonesian unit said on Monday it hoped to resolve a dispute with the government over its mining contract, but warned it could start arbitration against the government and seek damages.

It said late last week that it could not meet contractual obligations for copper concentrate shipments from the mine following a five-week export stoppage.

That came as a strike at the world’s top mine, Escondida in Chile, caused a second week of disruption. Escondida also declared force majeure last week.

“We expect the copper market to move into deficit in 2017 for the first time in six years, due to a combination of tightening supply and recovering developed world demand countering a more moderate rate of Chinese copper demand growth,” Citi said in a report.—Reuters