Chile's state-owned Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, announced its 2021 results on Friday. Codelco posted a jump in profits in 2021 thanks to high global copper prices.
The company's 2021 pretax profit climbed sharply to 7.4 billion from 2.1 billion a year earlier, the data showed. The copper mines it operates produced 1.618 million tons last year, flat from a year earlier. When Codelco's stakes in freeport El Abra and Anglo Sur are included, The company produced 1.728 million tons of copper last year.
Codelco CEO Octavio Araneda said cash costs rose 2.6 percent to 1.327 per pound, mainly due to external influences as higher input prices began to weigh on the industry's operating costs at the end of 2021.
Araneda expects Codelco to continue producing the same amount of copper this year as it did in 2021 and 2020. Since Codelco is the world's largest copper producer, that means tight supplies in the global copper market are unlikely to ease in the short term.
Chile's copper production fell 1.9 percent last year, according to previously released data attributed to labor shortages caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But mines around the world are still carrying out earthworks and maintenance work, which has suffered delays during the pandemic, to continue production despite a shortage of staff.
Codelco is accelerating inspections of its aging deposits as the Chilean government eases lockdown measures. Araneda said maintenance at Codelco's Chuquicamata smelter was not expected to affect overall production, but would affect cathode copper production.
Investors are closely watching the impact of the russia-Ukraine war on the market, and Araneda said the conflict is not expected to significantly affect Codelco's sales as the two countries are not significant buyers of the company.
Bay Araneda, küresel bakır fiyatlarının bu yıl mevcut seviyelerin yakınında kalmasını ve ciddi bir çatışma tırmanışını engellemesini bekliyor.
