Chile’s Codelco posts 1st half profits nearly 10 times greater than last year

RIO DE JANEIRO BRAZIL – Chile’s state-owned copper producer Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, reported Friday that the profits that will flow into the public coffers for its operations in the first half of the year reached US$3.675 billion, almost 10 times more than in the same period last year.

According to the company, between January and June, the surplus was US$380 million in the same period last year.

Both the increase in the price of the red metal and and increase in production had a positive impact on the company’s operations.

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The half-year figure also exceeds the sum of payments to the Chilean treasury in the whole of 2020.

During the period, Codelco managed to produce 796,000 tons of copper, 7% more than in the first half of 2020, due to an increase in the degree of processing at the Radomiro Tomic and El Teniente deposits, as well as better ore grade (or the percentage of copper in the rock) at Ministro Hales, the company said in a statement.

Codelco and major mining companies in Chile, the world’s top copper producer with 28% of global supply, never stopped work during the pandemic.

In 2021, the industry benefited from record copper prices in international markets due to increased demand from China.

“At Codelco, we have taken all sanitary measures to ensure the protection and health of people while maintaining operational continuity,” CEO Juan Benavides said in the statement.

The company’s CEO, Octavio Araneda, said that “the copper price was undoubtedly a factor that positively influenced the results, but also the increase in production and lower costs than planned.”

In 2020, the state-owned copper company reported a 55% increase in surplus over the previous year, which allowed it to contribute US$2.078 billion to the Chilean treasury in the midst of the pandemic.

Last year, production reached 1.618 million tons.