CHILE · COMPANY RESULTS
Key Facts
- Quarter Empresas Copec earned US$289 million in July to September 2026, up about 46% from a year earlier.
- Nine months Profit for January to September reached US$1.001 billion, up 57.6% on 2025.
- Sales Revenue was US$9.198 billion in the quarter, and nine-month EBITDA (operating cash earnings) was US$2.703 billion.
- Step down Profit fell about 34% from the US$440 million earned in the second quarter.
- Next Copec holds its results webcast on Friday 13 November 2026.
- Power Index Chile ranks 3rd of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 62.9 points (November 2026 edition).
Copec profit rose about 46% to US$289 million in the third quarter of 2026, the Chilean energy and forestry group said on Thursday 5 November. Empresas Copec owns the Copec fuel stations, the Arauco pulp and wood-panel maker, and the Abastible cooking-gas business.
For US readers, the result reads on fuel margins and forestry earnings across Latin America, where Copec operates in over a dozen countries. The company’s own half-year report lists the United States among its markets and calls US tariffs an open risk.
What Copec Reported for the Quarter
Copec earned US$289 million in July to September, up about 46% on the US$198 million of the same quarter of 2025. Revenue reached US$9.198 billion, against US$7.347 billion a year earlier.
Over nine months, profit totalled US$1.001 billion, up 57.6% on the US$635 million of January to September 2025. Sales topped US$26 billion, up about 20%, and EBITDA reached US$2.703 billion, up 27%.
Why Copec Profit Rose
Copec said the gain came from a better fuel margin, higher inventory values and stronger lubricant sales at its Chilean fuel arm. It also pointed to better results at Terpel, its Colombian fuel business.
The forestry arm Arauco did better too, helped by asset-sale gains, including its half of the Puerto Coronel port company, sold for US$65 million. Arauco earned about US$100 million over nine months, against a loss of about US$10 million a year earlier.
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A Step Down From the Second Quarter
Third-quarter profit was about 34% below the US$440 million Copec earned in April to June. That second quarter had lifted first-half profit to US$712 million, according to the group’s half-year management report.
Eduardo Navarro, Copec’s chief executive, called it a challenging year and said the mix of businesses lets the group ride out different industrial cycles. He added that the portfolio keeps creating value with a long-term view.
Brazil Pulp Mill Progress
Copec also updated investors on Sucuriú, the pulp mill that Arauco is building in Brazil. Construction is about 81% complete and ahead of schedule, and start-up is still set for the fourth quarter of 2027.
Engineering and civil works are more than 90% done, and electromechanical assembly is 47% done, 16% ahead of plan, the company said. Navarro said the mill will raise Arauco’s pulp capacity by 70%.
In Plain English, Who Is Who
Empresas Copec is the listed holding company, and the Angelini family group controls it. It owns stakes in fuel, forestry, gas and mining businesses across Latin America and beyond.
Copec is its fuel retailer in Chile, Terpel its fuel business in Colombia, and Abastible its liquefied-gas distributor. Arauco is the forestry arm that makes pulp, timber and wood panels.
What It Means for You
Fuel margins, lubricants and Terpel’s Colombian business drove the gain, a signal for US investors tracking Latin American fuel demand. Arauco, the forestry arm, competes in the global pulp market with US producers.
Copec’s nine-month sales above US$26 billion also make it a useful gauge of Chilean fuel demand. Readers following Chile’s pollution charges against Copec or the group’s first-half profit and Cabify tie-up can read this quarter as the next data point.
What Is Not Known
How much profit came from one-off inventory gains is a question Copec’s management can answer at its webcast on Friday 13 November 2026. The accounts for each business will also be on the company’s investor site.
Whether the pace holds in the fourth quarter depends on fuel margins and pulp prices, and Copec’s next quarterly report is the next hard data. Last year the company published fourth-quarter results on 26 February, and the Sucuriú start-up in Brazil is the longer test.
More: Latin America news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much did Empresas Copec earn in the third quarter of 2026?
Copec earned US$289 million in July to September 2026, up about 46% from a year earlier. Over nine months, profit reached US$1.001 billion.
What does Empresas Copec own?
Empresas Copec is a Chilean holding company that owns the Copec fuel business, the Arauco forestry group, the Abastible gas distributor and Terpel in Colombia. The Angelini group controls it.
When does Arauco’s Sucuriú pulp mill start?
Arauco’s Sucuriú pulp mill in Brazil is due to start in the fourth quarter of 2027. Copec said construction is about 81% complete.
Why did Copec profit fall from the second quarter?
Third-quarter profit of US$289 million was about 34% below the US$440 million of the second quarter. It was still about 46% above the third quarter of 2025.
Sources: Empresas Copec investor relations, 3Q26 earnings release and webcast calendar, 5 November 2026; Empresas Copec, Análisis razonado (management report) to 30 June 2026, 13 August 2026; Empresas Copec, Análisis razonado to 30 September 2025, 2025.
In depth
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error
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