Copper production in Peru, the world’s No. 3 producer of the key industrial metal, fell 2.3% this year through July compared to the same period a year before, according to official data.
Output in the period was 1,512,607 metric tons, the energy and mining ministry said on its website.
In July alone, Peru produced 222,389 tons of copper, a 3.2% drop from the year before.
After years as the world’s second largest copper miner after Chile, Peru last year lost its position to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The government’s production goal for this year is 3 million tons, which would mark a 9% increase over last year. However, the SNMPE mining, oil and energy association last month said it expects copper miners to fall short of that target.
Read More: Copper output from Codelco slides nearly 11% in July
(Reporting by Marco Aquino, Writing by Daina Beth Solomon)
