- Write by:
-
Saturday, March 28, 2020 - 11:55:34 AM
-
758 Visit
-
Print
Mining News Pro - Chile’s Codelco, the world’s second-largest copper miner, has fallen further behind BHP (ASX: BHP) in the top producers of the metal’s rank, after reporting that its output for 2019 had fallen by 5.3% to 1.588 million tonnes.
According to Mining News Pro - BHP, the world’s biggest mining company, churned out 1.749 million tonnes of copper last year and expects to produce between 1.705 million and 1.820 million tonnes in 2020.
Codelco, which hands all its revenue over to the state, attributed the drop in production to unusually bad weather in the first half of the year, strikes at its Chuquicamata mine and operational issues.
Profit for the year fell 17% compared to 2018 to $1.34 billion, while direct cash costs increased 1.8%.
Codelco said the poor financial results were a combination lower gross margins, the downward tendency of copper prices, a reduction in physical sales of the metal and molybdenum and weak results obtained from associated investments.
Colin Hamilton, managing director of commodities research at BMO Capital Markets, had anticipated earlier this week that the copper company would soon have to sell non-core assets.
“Any thoughts of shutting unprofitable operations, however, are off the agenda for now given the need to ensure employment,” Hamilton said in a note to investors.
Hamilton also noted that it was looking increasingly unlikely that Codelco would be the world’s largest copper miner from this year forward, as depletion and restrictions prove to be headwinds that are too strong.
The escalating number of Chileans infected with the novel coronavirus forced the company on Wednesday to suspend some key projects, including work being carried out to finish transforming Chuquicamata into an underground mine, and early-stage projects at Rajo Inca and Traspaso Andina.
The halted projects are part of a 10-year, $40 billion ongoing plan to upgrade its aging mines and keep up production rates. The scheme, however, could be further jeopardized by the effects of the measures taken to deal with the global pandemic crisis.
“Although the country’s government has taken proactive measures to contain the economic and health impacts of the covid-19, the ripple effects of a copper supply shock remain to be seen,” Mariano Pablo Machado, senior Americas analyst at global risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, said this week.
Codelco operates seven mines and four smelters, all in Chile. Its assets account for 10% of the world’s known proven and probable reserves and about 11% of the global annual copper output.
Short Link:
https://www.miningnews.ir/En/News/507523
Copper futures in New York rallied to a record high after a short squeeze that’s prompted a scramble to divert metal in ...
A Native American group said on Tuesday it will take its fight against Rio Tinto’s proposed Arizona copper mine to the ...
Teck Resources Ltd expects to generate annual earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortization (EBITDA) of ...
The state-run Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco) will soon revise its copper price outlook, which will be considerably ...
Chilean mining giant Codelco is still working to meet its estimated output for the second quarter, CEO Ruben Alvarado ...
Truck drivers in Chile staged protests Monday in the mineral-rich north of the country and around the capital Santiago, ...
Democratic Republic of Congo’s government has lifted a suspension order on a Congolese copper and cobalt operation ...
Peru’s copper production came in essentially flat for March at about 219,000 metric tons, government data showed on ...
Oxford Economics Australia has released data showing mine maintenance spending may be hitting its peak. But what does it ...
No comments have been posted yet ...