The production of zinc and lead increased in Mexico between January and May 2021 compared to 2020, while that of copper and iron pellets decreased, noted the National Institute of Geography, Statistics, and Informatics (INEGI) today.
In its monthly report on mining production, INEGI indicated that lead production grew 13.5pc to 73,265mt in the first five months of the year, from 64,558mt in the same period last year.
The jump in May this year was 59.3pc compared to the same month a year ago, to 15,439mt from 9,693mt.
Zinc also reported a 6.2pc production increase to 157,226mt during January-May 2021, as against 148,101mt during the same time last year. The growth reported this May was 209.1pc at 35,061mt compared with 11,343mt in 2020.
By contrast, copper saw its production drop 4.8pc, to 196,981mt in the first five months of the year from 206,816mt extracted in the same period last year. May also reported a 3.6pc decrease in the extraction of the red metal compared to the fifth month of 2020, to 38,222mt from 39,631mt.
Also, iron pellet production fell 3.6pc in January-May 2021, compared to 2020, to 2.45mn mt from 2.54mn mt. Conversely, in May the trend was upward, with an increase of 4.2pc to 518,321mt from 497,216mt produced in 2020.