10 Top Copper-Producing Countries

Mining & Minerals - Evaluations / Other Metals

Date posted: 02/23/16

Teresa Matich reports that copper prices have been on a downtrend for some time, losing roughly 26% in 2015. The red metal has gained back some ground since the start of 2016, but is still sitting well below the $3 per pound mark, largely due to a decrease in demand growth from top consumer China. However, world copper supply has not dropped as much as one might expect. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), global copper production is up 200,000 tonnes for a total of 18.7 million tonnes in 2015, despite reports of production cuts from major miners. 1. Chile Mine production: 5.7 million tonnes Despite being hit with earthquakes, heavy rains and strikes in 2015, Chilean copper production held up well, dropping by only about 50 tonnes relative to 2014. Still, mine production came in well below initial estimates for the year .... Chile was initially expected to produce about 6 million tonnes in 2015. 2. China Mine production: 1.75 million tonnes China, the largest copper consumer, is also the second-largest producer of the red metal, coming in with only a slight decrease in production relative to 2014. Late in 2015, nine of the Chinese largest copper smelters announced that they would cut production by more than 200,000 tonnes this year in an effort to support copper prices. 3. Peru Mine production: 1.6 million tonnes Peru came short of its goal of overtaking China to become the second-largest copper producer. That said, it did see a drastic increase in production, jumping from 1.38 million tonnes in 2014 to 1.6 million tonnes in 2015. With a number of major projects set to come online in 2016, Peru production is expected to increase by 66% this year, according to Peru Reports. 4. United States Mine production: 1.25 million tonnes U.S. mined production was down by about 8% in 2015. According to the USGS, that was largely due to decreases in production in Utah and Arizona. Rio Tinto Bingham Canyon mine in Utah saw production fall.