LATIN AMERICAN MARKETS: Chile Stocks Ease As Earthquake's Impact Mulled

By Carla Mozee

Chilean stocks fell Tuesday as investors continued to assess the impact that a deadly earthquake has had on the operations of companies in the Andean nation.

In the second day of trading after the 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit near the city of Concepcion, the IPSA equity index fell 0.6% to 3,760.39. The index in the previous session finished 1.2% lower.

The losses in the overall market over the past two sessions may not have been as steep as they could have been, in part because operations for mining copper -- the country's biggest product offering -- were largely undamaged, said Bruce Zaro, chief technical analyst at Delta Global Advisors. The temblor struck the southern portion of the country and mining activity is concentrated in the northern region.

"Although the human toll is obviously tragic, it looks like investors believe that [the earthquake] is going to have a muted impact on the economy," he said. Tighter supply of copper "really hasn't happened," although there have been "minor spikes" in prices following the event.

In exchange-traded funds, the iShares MSCI Chile Investable Market Index fund (ECH) lost earlier gains to close down 0.1%. It fell 1.4% in the previous session.

Among equity decliners on Tuesday in Santiago, shares of AES Gener SA fell 1.5%. Dow Jones Newswires reported that electricity provider's parent company AES Corp. (AES) said that more than a quarter of its power generation in Chile currently isn't running.

Shares in CAP SA dropped 4%, extending their loss of more than 2% on Monday after the steel producer said repairs at its Huachipato facility in southern Chile are likely to take no less than three months.

Shares of CMPC fell 2.8% as the pulp and paper provider declared force-majeure for an initial period of 30 days, according to Itau Securities.

"If we assume a 30-day supply disruption (it could take longer), this would be equivalent to 9.2% of global monthly shipments, or a potential three-day decline in already tight world inventories," wrote Itau Securities analyst Marcos Assumpção.

Chile represents 8.5% of global market pulp capacity, he wrote, adding that there are 3.7 million tons of capacity shut in Chile.

Shares of forestry products producer Copec fell 2.9%. The company said Monday that some of its facilities have been damaged.

Itau raised its 2010 forecast for average European hardwood pulp list prices to $800/ton this year, compared with its previous estimate of $748/ton. It also now expects prices to reach $820/ton in 2011, up from its previous forecast of $780/ton. Pulp prices are likely to increase again in April by $50/ton, wrote Assumpção.

With numerous roads, buildings and bridges damaged by the temblor in need of repair or to be completely rebuilt, shares of construction firms remained higher for a second session.

Shares of Salfacorp rose 1.4%, Besalco jumped 10.8% and cement maker Cementos Bio-Bio surged 33%.

Zaro at Delta Global also said possible that "clogs" and inefficiencies in the production of fertilizer and other agricultural items following the earthquake could lead to higher production prices to a "disadvantage" of Chilean companies, "whereas other producers globally could be able to come in and pick up market share."

In the foreign exchange market, the Chilean currency climbed to 518.80 pesos per U.S. dollar from Monday's level at 524.60 pesos, as prices for copper gained ground, up 6 cents to $3.41 a pound. Copper prices on Monday finished 2.1% higher, pulling back from a surge of more than 6%.

Investors are also looking toward the possibility that Chilean government will use money from an $11 billion fund to pay for rebuilding efforts. The government would have to convert the dollar-denominated funds to local currency to pay for construction efforts.

The Chilean government's most recent tally of deaths related to the earthquake was 723, with most deaths having occurred in the coastal region of Maule. At least 2 million people have been displaced by Saturday's earthquake, and thousands of troops have been deployed to affected cities to control widespread looting.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet appeared in the capital city of Santiago with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, with Clinton saying that the U.S. is ready to provide assistance to the country. Clinton brought with her 25 satellite phones to help in the relief efforts. She also toured areas affected by the earthquake.

Clinton's weeklong visit to the region started on Monday in Uruguay, where she attended the presidential inauguration of Jose Mujica, then later traveled to Argentina for a meeting with President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. She's slated to visit Brazil, Costa Rica and Guatemala.