«Codelco» halted expansion program in Andina

Chilean state corporation «Codelco» temporarily suspended investment program in Andina. The project was intended to expand production in the division. The operation was planned to both open-pit and underground mining of copper raw materials. The program was supposed to be implemented within two years. Its cost is about 7.5 billion. USD. However, the Chilean Corporation earlier announced the possibility of changes in the investment project. The main reason stated value of the global drop in copper. The current situation on the copper market has not stabilized. The price of the red metal continues to slide down.

«Codelco» is a recognized leader in the field of copper production. The percentage of production is about 10% of the global volume of melted metal. Recently, however, the corporation was faced with the problem of reducing the quality of copper concentrates. Their manufacturer is Andina. The product also reduces the average copper content. Manual «Codelso» given negative results, is concerned about the future of Andina Division.

However, «Codelco» doing well. Even a very difficult situation on the copper market, did not prevent the Corporation to increase production rates. During the first half of 2015 the volume of produced copper increased by 5.5% to reach 831 000 tonnes. Growth was made possible thanks to new projects. However, despite the increase in volumes, corporate profits fell by more than 30%. For the 6 months it amounted to 875 million. USD under the influence of reducing the global cost of copper. The situation was somewhat mitigated by lower production costs.

In general, the situation in Chile in the ferrous metallurgy sector gradually improved. In June copper production in the country increased to the level of 513.791 tons. An increase of 2.9% compared to last year's performance period. Compared with the May figures progress amounted to 1.1%. During the first half copper production increased by 2.4%, amounting to 2.94 million. Tons.

Production of molybdenum concentrate rose by 24.5% in June compared to last year. Issue volume reached 4,796 thousand tons. In general, the figures for the six months decreased by 0.5% to reach 23.531 tons. Improved performance due to the growth of downloading certain mines.