Chile’s Codelco posts 35% drop in H1 pre-tax profit, production falls

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Leading copper producer Codelco reported on Friday a 35% drop in pre-tax profit to $2.4 billion for the first half of 2022, dragged down by lower production and higher costs.

The Chilean state miner reported it produced 736,000 tonnes of copper between January and June, a 7.5% fall versus the first half of 2021.

The operation was “affected by a lower grade of ore in the Ministro Hales mine, along with lower processing rates and copper recovery in the Chuquicamata and El Teniente divisions,” the firm said in a statement.

The company, which gives all its profit to the state, also said its direct cash costs rose 11.8% in the first half of the year to $1.51 per pound of copper, due to the “increase in the price of inputs” in the industry.

The company’s revenues from copper sales fell 4.4% in the period compared to last year, with the price of copper seeing its biggest weekly fall in over 12 months in June.

(Reporting by Isabel Woodford, Fabian Andrés Cambero and Noe Torres)