Peru copper output this year forecast below expectations, deputy minister says
LIMA - Copper production in Peru, the world's No. 3 producer of the key industrial metal, will likely fall short of a government goal of three-million metric tons this year, a top mining official said on Wednesday.
Output is currently on track to reach about 2.8-million tons this year, said Deputy Mining Minister Henry Luna.
However, he noted that some miners may increase their production estimates under a new government norm allowing copper processing plants to increase their capacity by 10%.
"At the end of the year (production) goes up, but what's projected for the year is 2.8-million tons in Peru," Luna told reporters at a mining industry conference.
According to official data, copper production this year through July fell 2.3% compared to the same period a year before.
Output in the period was 1.51-million metric tons, due to declines of 5.7% at Cerro Verde, 11.3% at Las Bambas and 17.1% at Toromocho, according to a government report.
In July alone, Peru produced 222 389 t of copper, a 3.2% drop from the year before. During the month, production dropped nearly 25% at Quellaveco, owned by Anglo American.
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 was initially three-million tons, which would mark a 9% increase over last year. The SNMPE mining, oil and energy association last month said it expected copper miners to fall short of that target.
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