Chile copper output slumps 15% as BHP mines lead drop

Chile produced 385,100 tonnes of mine copper in September, 15% less than a year earlier and the lowest September total in the Chilean Copper Commission's (Cochilco) monthly-by-company series, which begins in 2014.

The figures, from Cochilco's production table and based on company reports, put output for the first nine months of this year at 3.633 million tonnes, down 8.5%, or 339,000 tonnes, from a year earlier. That January-September total is also the lowest in the same series.

The largest share of the shortfall came from mines operated by BHP (NYSE, LON, ASX: BHP). Escondida produced 93,800 tonnes in September, down 20.9%, and 891,300 tonnes in the first nine months, down 12.5%. Spence produced 15,300 tonnes in September, down 27.2%, and 146,500 tonnes in the nine months, down 25.7%. Together the two mines accounted for 45% of September's national decline and 52% of the nine-month decline.

Codelco, Chile's state-owned copper miner, produced 91,600 tonnes in September, down 15.5%, and 853,000 tonnes in the first nine months, down 9%. That nine-month decline matches the figure chairman Bernardo Fontaine cited in an interview published on Sunday, after he had already put this year's output closer to 1.2 million tonnes. El Teniente was down 17.1% in the nine months, to 194,200 tonnes, the largest fall among Codelco's divisions in tonnage terms. Ministro Hales fell 32.4% to 71,100 tonnes. Andina rose 3.6% to 132,100 tonnes.

Collahuasi produced 30,700 tonnes in September, down 19.2%, the third-largest monthly decline after Escondida and Codelco, and 280,600 tonnes in the nine months, down 5.6%. Anglo American's (LON: AAL) Los Bronces and El Soldado mines, reported together in the table as Anglo American Sur, rose 7.1% in the nine months, to 166,000 tonnes.

The largest offset was Quebrada Blanca, operated by Teck Resources (TSX: TECK.A, TECK.B; NYSE: TECK). The mine produced 11,600 tonnes in September, more than double the year-earlier total, and 158,500 tonnes in the first nine months, up 17.8%.

At Antofagasta (LON: ANTO), the decline was concentrated at Centinela. The sulphide operation produced 102,000 tonnes in the nine months, down 18.7%, and the oxide operation 41,900 tonnes, down 19.2%. Los Pelambres was nearly unchanged, at 221,900 tonnes, down 1.6%, and Antucoya produced 55,800 tonnes, down 4%.

Cochilco has not yet published October figures in the same table. The October, November and December rows are still at zero, and the 2026 total equals the January-September sum.