Chile copper production down 0.7% year on year in January Chile produced 457,100 tonnes of copper in January, down by 0.7% from 460,100 tonnes in the same month in 2020, the Chilean copper commission, Cochilco, said on Tuesday March 2. A decline in output at the BHP-majority-owned Escondida copper mine - the world’s largest – is likely to be the main reason for the small decline, with production there falling 11.6% to 84,700 tonnes in the first month of 2021, down from 100,900 tonnes in the corresponding period of 2020, according to Cochilco data. The world’s biggest copper producer, meanwhile - the government-owned Codelco - reported output of 142,000 tonnes in January, a 19.4% year-on-year increase from 118,900 tonnes in January 2020.