SANTIAGO – Chile’s Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, yesterday reported 2020 profits of more than US$2 billion (RM8.1 billion) – 55% higher than the previous year despite the coronavirus pandemic.
As a state-owned company, Codelco hands all its revenue over to the Treasury.
The 2020 figures were made possible by higher production and better prices, said the company in a statement.
In spite of the challenges posed by Covid-19, which included shuttering or slowing projects and working with fewer staff, Codelco “managed to surpass the production of the previous year”, said executive president Octavio Araneda.
Production reached 1.6 billion tonnes in 2020, up 30,000 tonnes from a year ago.
A rise in the price of the red metal in the second half of 2020 also helped boost income.
This week, copper traded at its highest level in 10 years, exceeding US$4 per pound on the London Metal Exchange.
Codelco is responsible for nearly 11% of the world’s copper supply, and Chile is the globe’s largest producer of the metal. – AFP, February 27, 2021
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