Friday, May 15, 2009

Chile Copper Revenues Down 52 Per Cent In April

The value of Chile's copper exports fell 52 percent to $1.754 billion in April, compared with $3.649 billion in the same month a year ago, central bank figures showed on Friday.

In March, copper exports totaled $1.449 billion, down 66 percent from a year earlier, the central bank reported last month.

With the April data, the value of Chile's copper exports fell 59 percent in the first four months of 2009 from a year earlier to $5.971 billion, central bank data shows.

Chile is the world's leading copper producer, mining more than one-third of the global supply.

Copper export revenue for all of 2008 was $32.808 billion, versus 2007 exports of $37.583 billion, according to central bank data.

Compared with last year, Chile's copper export revenues have tumbled in tandem with prices for the red metal, pummeled in recent months as demand fell due to the global economic crisis.

Chile's second-biggest mining association, Sonami, forecasts the value of 2009 copper exports will total some $20 billion, while production will rise 1.3 percent.

Source: Reuters

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