Chile’s November copper output falls amid drops from Codelco and Escondida

Chile’s total copper production in November fell by 0.6% year-on-year to 481,800 tonnes, due to drops from state-owned Codelco and the giant Escondida mine, the Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco) reported on Tuesday.

Codelco’s production saw an output drop of 7.4% in November compared with the same period of the previous year to 153,800 tonnes, accumulating a 0.4% drop in 2021 so far.

Extraction at BHP’s Escondida, the world’s largest copper mine, fell by 11.6% year-on-year to 80,300 tonnes in November. In 2021 through November, the mine recorded a 14.5% drop.

However, the Collahuasi copper mine – a joint venture by Glencore and Anglo American – reported a 5.1% year-on-year rise in production to 50,700 tonnes, Cochilco said. Its 2021 output was 0.8% down from the previous year.

(By Natalia Ramos and Peter Frontini; Editing by Marguerita Choy)