Chile copper production jumps 21% in Feb, a year after Escondida strike

Chemical News: Chile copper production jumps 21% in Feb, a year after Escondida strike

https://www.chemnet.com Mar 30,2018 Platts
Chile produced 455,995 mt of copper in February, up 21.1% year on year and largely reflecting the impact of a strike by workers at the giant Escondida mine last year, government data showed Thursday.

Increased throughput at other operations also helped.

The monthly figure, however, marks a fall of 5.5% from January.

Production during the first two months of the year totaled 938,484 mt, up 13.3% from 12 months earlier, the data showed.

Workers at the BHP-controlled Escondida , the world's largest copper mine, went on strike for 44 days in February and March last year in a dispute over pay.

They returned to work on an 18-month extension of the existing contract meaning that the union and management will have to hold new talks this year for a new agreement.

The talks are one of almost two dozen collective negotiations faced by major Chilean mines this year, threatening an expected recovery in production.

Earlier this week, Antofagasta Minerals avoided a strike at its flagship Los Pelambres mine after workers accepted a new offer during government-mediated talks.

However, supervisors at the state-owned Chuquicamata mine could be heading to a strike after rejecting the latest offer from management in talks there.

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