Copper output in Chile, the world’s largest producer of the metal, in August had its sharpest drop in over two years, according to data from statistics agency INE published Tuesday.
Production slipped 9.9% year-on-year, to 423,643 metric tons versus 470,696 tons in August 2024.
The last time production plunged even further than that was in May 2023, when it registered an annual fall of about 14%.
Output at the world’s top copper producer, Codelco, took a hit after a July 31 accident at its flagship El Teniente mine that killed six people and forced a halt to mining and smelting.
The state-run company reported losses of 33,000 metric tons of copper linked to the incident, and cut its 2025 guidance.
Manufacturing production in the Andean nation was up 1.8% in the month on a yearly basis, the agency added. The data came in slightly below the 1.9% increase expected by economists polled by Reuters.
(By Daina Beth Solomon, Natalia Ramos and Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; Editing by Gabriel Araujo)
