Santiago, Feb 25 (AFP/APP): Chile’s state-owned Codelco, the world’s largest copper-producing company, on Friday reported profits for 2021 of nearly $7.4 billion — an increase of 256 percent over 2020 thanks largely to higher prices.
The good results were also due to the company managing to maintain production levels “despite the restrictions imposed by the pandemic,” Codelco president Juan Benavides said in a statement.
Production remained steady at just over 1.6 million metric tons in 2021.
As a state-owned company, Codelco hands all its revenue over to the treasury.
In April last year, the price of copper exceeded $10,000 per tonne for the first time in a decade thanks to strong demand in China and a weak dollar.
Codelco is responsible for about eight percent of world copper production, and Chile is the largest producer of the red metal.
Copper is an efficient conductor of electricity and heat, used widely in systems to generate power from solar, hydro, thermal and wind sources.
Follow the PNI Facebook page for the latest news and updates.
