Peru’s copper production rose by 1.4pc to 207,034mt in October, from 204,139mt in the same month last year, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (Inei). Compañía Minera Antamina noted a growth of 39.3pc in copper volumes, while Compañía Minera Antapaccay and Minera Chinalco Perú’s output rose by 4pc and 28.1pc respectively.
The country’s iron ore output also increased by 23.7pc to 1.09mn mt in October, from 883,233mt in October 2019, owing to higher production from Shougang Hierro Perú and Minera Shouxin Perú. Zinc production was up by 8pc to 142,181mt from 131,694mt during the same period under comparison. Minera Antamina and Nexa Resources contributed to the rise in mined zinc.
Lead volumes, however, declined 15.6pc to 22,504mt in October from 26,677mt in the prior year period, due to lower production from Sociedad Minera El Brocal and Compañía Minera Chungar.
Exports
In January-September, copper shipments fell by 17.7pc in value to $8.2bn, from $9.9bn in the same period in 2019 while iron ore exports were down 27pc to $515mn from $706mn in the same timeframe. Zinc export values were down by 36.3pc to $1.02bn in the first nine months from $1.6bn in the same period of 2019. Lead shipments fell by 4.5pc to $1.04bn from $1.09 in the same period.
Major importers of Peruvian base metals are China, Germany, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Spain, the US, Brazil, and Chile.