Peru copper production growth near 13% in February

Peru’s copper production grew 12.7% in February to reach 216,752 metric tons, the country’s energy and mining ministry said on Tuesday.

Peru is one of the world’s top producers of copper, and mining is a key driver of the Andean country’s economy.

The announcement comes a day after the government reported that the economy expanded 2.85% in February, led by just over 17% growth in metals mining, which includes copper.

Copper’s February performance was due in part to a 219.4% production boost from Glencore’s Antapaccay mine.

Anglo American’s Quellaveco mine saw production up 40.7%, with Southern Copper production up 23.1%, the ministry said in a report.

In the year’s first two months, Peru produced a total volume of 422,127 tons, 5.4% more compared to the same period last year.

In 2023, Peru was displaced by the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the world’s second largest copper producer, although it remains ahead of the African country in terms of the volume of its exports, according to data from both nations.

Mining Minister Romulo Mucho said last month he expects copper production to reach 3.0 million tons in 2024, up from 2.76 million tons last year.

(By Marco Aquino and Brendan O’Boyle; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)