Congo close to displacing Peru as the world’s second largest copper producer this year

According to data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), at the end of this year the Democratic Republic of the Congo would reach a production of 2.6 million tons of the mineral, while Peru would total 2.4 million tons. With this, our country would lose the second position as the world’s copper producer.

Chile, meanwhile, would maintain the first position with a production of 5.3 million tons. Along these lines, the president of the board of directors of Codelco, Máximo Pacheco, highlighted the position of his country and stressed that there is “greater mining production coming from Africa.”

According to information from Diario Financiero de Chile, Pacheco also warned that the change in second position would have already occurred. “The first is Chile, the second is the Congo, which displaced Peru,” quotes the Chilean media. However, according to experts consulted by the same medium, we will have to wait until the end of the year to confirm the change.

It is worth remembering that in September, Rubén Arratia, research director for base metals and precious metals at Wood Mackenzie, He commented that the rise of the Congo would inevitably happen. “Peru will reach its peak copper production in 2024 with 2.9 million tons, but after that its production will begin to decline and Congo will surpass it“, said. The projects that would lead the Congo to increase its production are Tenke Fungureme and Kamoa-Kakula.

However, Arratia stressed that Peru can regain its second position because it has the advantage of being a relatively young country in terms of exploration opportunities.