Copper prices traded weak on Monday to end around half a percent lower. China produced 694,000 tonnes of copper in April, up 14.9 percent on the year, the National Bureau of Statistics said, with the increased volumes weighing on prices. Production over the first four months of the year hit 2.715 million tonnes, up 11 percent compared to the previous year.
However, output in world’s no. 1 producer Chile fell in April as some mines in the central part of the country were hit by heavy rains and ore grades continued to decline. Chile, which produces one-third of the world's copper, is struggling with dwindling ore grades in many of its aging deposits at a time when mining companies are implementing costcutting measures to address a steep drop in metals prices. Copper mines in Chile produced 432,277 tonnes of copper in April, an 8.2 percent decrease from the previous year, the INE statistics agency said.
At the height of the El Nino mid-April rains, Anglo American (LON:AAL) Plc and state-owned producer Codelco temporarily suspended operations at two major copper mines with combined annual capacity of 880,000 tonnes. From January through April, Chilean mines produced 1.83 million tonnes of copper, a 4.7 percent decrease from a year earlier.