Antofagasta expects 2024 copper output at low end of yearly forecast
Antofagasta produced 284,700 metric tons of copper in the first half, down 3.7% from the same period in 2023.
Leading copper producer Codelco reported on Friday a 35% drop in pre-tax profit to $2.4 billion for the first half of 2022, dragged down by lower production and higher costs.
The Chilean state miner reported it produced 736,000 tonnes of copper between January and June, a 7.5% fall versus the first half of 2021.
The operation was “affected by a lower grade of ore in the Ministro Hales mine, along with lower processing rates and copper recovery in the Chuquicamata and El Teniente divisions,” the firm said in a statement.
The company, which gives all its profit to the state, also said its direct cash costs rose 11.8% in the first half of the year to $1.51 per pound of copper, due to the “increase in the price of inputs” in the industry.
The company’s revenues from copper sales fell 4.4% in the period compared to last year, with the price of copper seeing its biggest weekly fall in over 12 months in June.
(By Isabel Woodford, Fabian Andrés Cambero and Noe Torres)
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