transparency, and strategic governance of mineral supply chains have become central concerns for policymakers, industry actors, and international organizations (Lebdioui, 2022). While China has consolidated its position as the world’s largest metallurgical and processing hub, it remains structurally dependent on imported raw materials sourced from a limited number of producing regions, including LAC, Africa, and Indonesia (IEA, 2025; Fernandez, 2024). In this context, rising demand for critical raw materials also presents an opportunity for mineral- and metal-exporting countries to increase trade revenues while addressing broader socio-economic development needs (Atakhanova et al., 2025). Against this backdrop, understanding how producing regions are structurally embedded within global trade networks is essential for assessing vulnerabilities, dependencies, and strategic leverage. The existing literature on LAC’s copper and mining sectors has largely relied on macroeconomic indicators, production volumes, export values, and bilateral trade statistics to evaluate regional performance (Tercero & Soulier, 2016; Casanova et al. 2016; Alessandri, 2021). While informative, these approaches provide limited insight into the relational structure of trade flows and are insufficient to capture structural dependencies, brokerage roles, and power asymmetries within global commodity systems (Aguinaga,2024). Although network-based approaches have been increasingly applied in economic history and international trade, the use of Social Network Analysis (SNA) to examine copper concentrate trade—particularly in a Latin American context—remains limited. This gap is especially relevant for LAC, a region that combines global importance in copper supply with persistent weaknesses in regional integration. Trade relations in resource-intensive sectors are predominantly organized through global trade structures rather than intra-regional linkages, constraining the formation of cohesive regional trade communities. As a result, conventional indicators struggle to capture whether LAC exporters function primarily as global anchors, intermediaries, or peripheral actors within the evolving organization of copper concentrate markets. This structural concentration raises questions regarding resilience, strategic coordination, and long-term positioning of Latin American exporters in a geopolitically evolving mineral market. This study analyzes the structural organization of the global copper concentrate trade network between 2010 and 2024, with particular attention to LAC’s position within evolving global trade communities. By applying a longitudinal Social Network Analysis framework, the research examines how key exporters are embedded in global trade structures, distinguishing between scale-driven anchors, brokerage actors, and structurally autonomous participants. Specifically, the analysis seeks to determine whether LAC exporters operate as a cohesive regional bloc or as nationally differentiated actors integrated into demand-driven global networks. It further assesses how shifts in modularity and community composition reflect changing patterns of trade centralization and global embedding. Through this structural perspective, the paper provides system-level evidence that complements conventional trade 31
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