Chile copper output down in August as labor strikes dog production

Copper production in Chile, the world’s top copper producer, dropped 4.6% year-on-year in August amid falling ore grades and labor strikes at key deposits, government statistics agency INE said on Thursday.

The Andean nation’s copper output fell to 466,928 tonnes in August, the agency said. Chile’s production through August in 2021 has fallen 1.2% to 3.77 million tonnes.

Soaring copper prices this year have handed unions in Chile more leverage than in the recent past, ratcheting up tensions in some labor negotiations, including a prolonged strike at Codelco’s Andina mine near Santiago.

Workers at Chile’s Caserones mine, controlled by Japan’s JX Nippon Copper, also walked off the job in August.

The statistics agency said overall manufacturing in August rose 10.6% year-on-year, boosted primarily by the production of food.

The agency also noted a spike in the output of other non-metallic mineral products, including concrete, as the mining and construction industries have begun to revive following months of coronavirus-induced stagnation.

Chile’s economy has roared back in recent months, buoyed by a fast-paced vaccination campaign and a raft of stimulus measures from the government.

(By Dave Sherwood and Fabian Cambero; Editing by Giles Elgood and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)