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Chilean copper cathode export agreements negotiated with Asia rose four-fold in August, compared with the month before, according to the Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco).

The Chilean Copper Commission, Cochilco, sees copper output increasing by over 3% this year, with demand driven by India and China.

Antofagasta snaps up ex-Codelco chief

Cochilco reported a total of 340,543 tonnes of concentrates negotiated via export agreement contracts, in which Asia accounted for 259,395 tonnes. South America and other countries acquired 35,648 tonnes in the period; traders 35,500 tonnes and European countries 10,000 tonnes.

While port activities at San Antonia are closed, the larger and more important ports of Antofagasta and Mejillones were unaffected by the quake. As long as ports are open, the export of copper from Chile may see little disruption. Meanwhile, mines in northern Chile appear to be operating normally. BHP Billiton said its copper mines weren't affected, while a Codelco spokesman said its northern Chilean mines are operating normally.

Chile Aims for 1,000 Megawatts of Geothermal Power

Chile, the world’s main copper producing country, said Monday output is likely to reach a record high this year as BHP Billiton (ASX, NYSE:BHP) ramps up supply and state-owned Codelco starts a new mine in the Atacama Desert. Based on the report published by the Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco), the South American nation expects to generate 5.59 million tons of red metal this year, up 3% from 2012 levels. The country also forecasts world copper supply exceeding demand by 56,000 tons this year and 68,000 tons in 2014. BHP is increasing production at its Escondida mine, in Chile’s arid north, over 20%, while State’s owned Codelco is aiming to lift output to 1.7 million tons with activity starting at its Ministro Hales mine, reports Diario Financiero (in Spanish).

Resources and reserves are up 19% at Chilean copper mine Collahuasi, Anglo American and Xstrata, which each own 44%, have said.

Chilean copper miner Codelco is pushing ahead with its drive to control costs and raise productivity as it seeks to mitigate the effect of fluctuating copper prices and lower ore grades, its ceo said.

SANTIAGO -(Dow Jones)- Chilean copper output grew 7.8% in August to 459,823 metric tons from the 426,689 tons produced in the same month of 2008, the government statistics agency reported Wednesday.

Chilean miner Antofagasta (ANTO.L: Quote) posted stronger first-half copper output due to a plant expansion at its biggest mine, but said bad weather had delayed some shipments.

He said that during Q2, global copper demand was up 4.8% QoQ thanks to demand from emerging economies led by China and a recovery in physical consumption in the US and Europe. During the Q2 of this year, US and European demand for fine copper increased by 22% and 4% respectively when compared to the Q1 of this year. These are very positive developments that support our conviction of higher physical demand from now on. In addition, copper production has not grown at the same rate as demand which will further support prices for the red metal. He added that a clear sign of this is the consistent reduction of the combined copper inventories of the London Metal Exchange, COMEX and Shanghai warehouses. At their latest peak in February this year combined inventories were 815,000t." According to Chilean state copper commission Cochilco's weekly report, global stocks stood at 609,478 tonnes.