Chile’s copper inventories fell by 1.7pc in February compared to the previous month, due to higher consumption of finished copper products during the month the National Statistical Institute (INE) said in a statement on Apr 14.
Manufactured products and automotive parts Inventories, on the other hand, climbed by 2.1pc, in February compared to the previous month, INE noted.
Chile’s copper production fell by 5pc to 425,500mt in February, from 448,000mt in February 2020, due to lower production from Escondida, Los Pelambres, and Spence mines. Copper prices reached $4.167/lb on Thursday, up by 1.96pc compared to the prior day, according to the Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco).
Chile, the world’s largest copper producer, has increased its price guidance for copper to $3.30/lb. The South American country’s copper production is expected to increase by 3.6pc to 6mn mt this year, while copper output will reach 6.1mn mt in 2022, according to Cochilco data.