Chile’s Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, on Friday posted a 53% decrease in pre-tax profit, reaching $213 million for the first three months of the year.
The state-owned miner said its own output totaled 296,000 metric tons, up 0.3% from the same period last year.
This increase was achieved despite various challenges in the first quarter, including the regional rainy season and a nationwide blackout in February, which reduced refined copper production by 10,000 tons, the company said in a statement.
Codelco said the company faced rising costs due to planned mine and plant maintenance, as well as higher operating costs for equipment leasing which where partially offset by lower input prices, including power and fuel.
The miner is targeting copper production between 1.37 million tons and 1.4 million tons this year, as it aims to boost output for the second year in a row after slipping to a quarter-century low in 2023.
(By Fabian Andres Cambero and Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Kylie Madry)
