RTRS:Poland to link mining tax with copper prices-finmin
WARSAW Nov 30 (Reuters) - Poland will link a planned mining tax to global copper prices to take effect next spring, deputy finance minister Maciej Grabowski said on Wednesday, reinforcing market expectations for a higher levy.
Shares in Polish group KGHM, Europe's No.2 copper producer, fell to six-week lows as investors braced for higher taxes on copper and silver extraction.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who delivered the opening speech of his second term in office earlier this month, hinted the state-controlled miner would pay more tax for each tonne of copper it extracts.
"We should have the tax ready in a month," Grabowski told Reuters. "We hope to have it implemented by the turn of the first and second quarter. It will be levied monthly and its level will depend on copper prices on the global markets."
The finance ministry has hinted earlier that the measure is to yield 2 billion zlotys ($588.6 million) for government coffers. Grabowski said this level is based on the current price of copper and the dollar.
"If global copper prices jump to $10,000 a tonne, the income will be higher," Grabowski said.
Copper slid on Wednesday as a concrete solution to Europe's debt struggle remained elusive with a European Central Bank official saying the crisis has significantly worsened, further clouding the outlook for industrial metal demand.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange dropped 1.8 percent to $7,356.50 a tonne by 0702 GMT. ($1 = 3.3981 Polish zlotys) (Reporting by Maciej Onoszko; Writing by Adrian Krajewski; Editing by Erica Billingham)