The press release issued by Codelco noted that the dip in accumulated production was mainly due to reduction in grade ore at its Ministro Hales division, attributed to a change in sequence and a lower recovery of copper.

The refined copper usage totalled 25.3 million tonnes in 2021.

Copper buyers are so worried about future availability of the metal that they’re seeking to secure longer-term deals than normal, according to top miner Codelco.

ICSG expects the global copper market to see a deficit of around 325,000t in 2022 and a surplus of nearly 155,000t in 2023.

The investment will help Rio Tinto to quickly bring additional volumes of high quality copper to the market and build its knowledge and capabilities.

The reported copper metal stock stood higher by 47 kt at the end of July 2022, when compared with end-December 2021 levels.

Earlier, Goldman Sachs had predicted that copper is likely to begin outstripping supplies by 2025, thus doubling its price from current levels.

According to Fitch Solutions, a pipeline of new projects, especially in Chile, Peru, Australia and Canada, will bring additional copper to the market.