Some of the big copper players in Chile like BHP, Antofagasta and Collahuasi saw reduced outputs in November on an annual basis, according to the Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco).
BHP’s Escondida mine saw its production fall by 12pc to 90,800mt in November 2020, from 103,200mt in the same month in 2019 while Collahuasi’s copper output fell by 15pc to 48,200mt from 56,700mt in the same month under comparison.
Antofagasta’s Los Pelambres mine produced 31,900mt of copper in November, down by 6pc from 33,900mt in November 2019. Esperanza’s volumes declined 2.4pc to 16,000mt from 16,400mt in the same period. Meanwhile, Spence saw its copper production fall by 26.8pc to 12,000mt in November from 16,400mt in the same period in 2019.
However, Codelco, one of the world’s biggest copper producers, increased output by 7pc to 166,100mt in November 2020, from 155,200mt in the same month of 2019, due to higher volumes from its Chuquicamata and El Teniente mines, which produced 83,400mt and 43,400mt, respectively. Anglo American Sur’s production rose by 58.3pc to 36,100mt in November from 22,800mt in the prior year period.
Chile’s total copper production fell by 2.1pc to 493,538mt in November from 504,349mt in November 2019, according to the latest figures released by the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (Inei).