Peru copper output edges down in 2024 to 2.74 million tonnes

Peru’s mining ministry on Friday said copper output in 2024 amounted to 2,736,150 metric tons, down 0.7% from 2023. The drop marked the copper giant’s first decline after four straight years of recovery following the pandemic.

Industry sources had predicted Peru’s copper output would remain stable at around 2.8 million tonnes in both 2024 and 2025, due to declining ore grades and a lack of new projects.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo overtook Peru as the world’s second largest copper producer in 2023. Congo has yet to report its full-year production figures for 2024.

In December alone, Peru’s production grew 2.9% compared to the year before, with more than 262,000 tons, according to a report from the Mining Ministry.

Throughout the year, production slipped at some of the country’s largest mines.

At Peru’s biggest mine, Freeport McMoRan’s Cerro Verde, output fell 3.7%. The company had previously forecast that lower ore grades would impact 2024 sales volumes.

Production edged down 0.3% at Antamina, controlled by Glencore and BHP.

Anglo American reported a bigger drop, of 4%, at Quellaveco, while output at Glencore’s Antapaccay plummeted 15.7%.

In contrast, Southern Copper and MMG’s Minera Las Bambas posted production increases of 11% and 6.4% respectively.

(By Marco Aquino and Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez)