Chile’s Mining Production Index Falls in December

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Chile’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) reported that the country’s Mining Production Index (IPMin) fell by 9.3% in December 2020 when compared to December 2019.

According to the INE, the fall is a consequence of reduced activity in all three sectors that make up the index, particularly in the metallic mining sector which dropped by 9.3% in December and subtracted 8.8 percentual points from the index.

In its report, the Institute said that the metallic mining sector, in fact, saw a 9.7% decrease in copper extraction and processing in the last month of 2020. This reduction has been attributed to both lower grades and a slower-than-expected pace in the resumption of operations that were halted due to covid-19-related restrictions.

The non-metallic mining sector, on the other hand, saw lower production of caliche and, thus, fell by 6.1%.

The third component of the Mining Production Index, the energy sector, dropped by 29% when compared to December 2019, as a result of lower production of crude oil, coal and natural gas.

Overall, however, the IPMin grew by 0.5% in 2020, a small boost caused by a 0.4% rise in production in the metallic mining sector.