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Congo overtakes Peru on copper output, still behind on exports

The Democratic Republic of the Congo overtook Peru as the world's 2nd largest copper producer in 2023, though it still lags the South American nation in exports, official data from both nations program.

Congo produced about 2.84 million lots of copper last year, the nation's central bank reported. Peru's output was 2.76 million tons, the Andean nation's mining and energy ministry stated.

Congo has actually been attracting Peru's No. 2 copper area over current years, with flagging mining investment in Peru linked to red tape and recent political chaos and protests. Chile stays the distant leading manufacturer of the red metal.

Peru, nevertheless, is hanging onto its lead over Congo on copper exports. Peru exported some 2.95 million tons of the metal last year, more than its annual production due to sales of stocks held over from previous years.

Rómulo Mucho, Peru's minister of energy and mines, said in early March he anticipated copper production to increase to 3 million loads in 2024. The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Peru's Andes are home to significant mining firms consisting of Freeport-McMoRan, MMG Ltd, BHP, Glencore, Teck Resources, Japan's Mitsubishi , and Southern Copper of Grupo México.

(source: Reuters)