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General Market Commentary
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General Market Commentary
Chile's Codelco copper output dips but company posts profit
SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chilean state copper company Codelco said on Thursday it produced slightly less copper from January to September 2017 than it did in the same period a year ago but rebounded from a year-earlier loss as prices for the metal improved.
Codelco Chief Executive Nelson Pizarro said the company produced 1.24 million tonnes of copper in the January-to-September period, a 3 percent decline from the same period last year.
He added the company posted more than $1.6 billion in pretax profit for the first nine months of 2017 versus an $18 million pretax loss in the year-earlier period.
Direct cash costs through September rose to $1.32 per pound of copper from $1.27 in 2016 as declining ore grades - a problem in Chile for years - continued to take their toll.
Codelco, which transfers all its profits to the state and relies on capitalization and some debt issuance to fund its operations, is emerging from a prolonged rough patch after a collapse in copper prices in 2016 ate into earnings and scuttled near-term investment plans.
The price of copper has risen dramatically in recent months on strong Chinese demand and supply disruptions, among other issues. Codelco, like other copper miners, is reinstating projects that were earlier put on ice.