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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).

Antofagasta snaps up ex-Codelco chief

The nearly $3 billion copper-silver mine is expected to add 300 tons of the precious grey material to the existing silver output from the rest of Codelco’s operations in the country

Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. and Codelco, the world’s two largest copper producers, said China’s plans to curb its economy threaten to reduce demand for the metal after prices slumped 15 percent in two months. The copper market will be “volatile” for as much as another year after China took measures to cool its property market, Codelco Chief Executive Officer Diego Hernandez said yesterday in an interview at Bloomberg headquarters in New York. The Asian nation is a “risk to the world’s market place in the near term,” Freeport CEO Richard Adkerson said in an interview.

The management of Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, will submit a plan to the board in the next few months proposing to create a new international unit, the miner’s chief executive told Metal Bulletin.

State miner Codelco produced 1.25 million tonnes of copper in the nine months to September, up 3.5 percent from the same period last year, it said in a statement to Chile's market regulator.

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.

Chile’s State-owned Codelco has revealed that in the last four years it has found new copper deposits nearby current operations, which hold about 1,875 million tonnes of high-grade ore located between 500 to 1,000 meters underground.

March 2 (Bloomberg) -- Codelco, the world’s largest copper miner, expects to return to full output today after a magnitude 8.8 earthquake on Feb. 27 knocked out power to two mines supplying more than a third of its production.

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas) -- Last week, Codelco (Santiago, Chile), the world's biggest copper producer, announced intentions to invest $15 billion in the next five years to develop new projects.