Antofagasta plc (LON: ANTO) have cut their annual production guidance for 2019, despite full operation of all its mines after political unrest in Chile.
Only a few weeks back, Antofagasta were locked in a battle between workers and unions, causing production operations to slow as a result of miner strikes.
The unrest had affected primarily its Los Pelambres mine where the access road was blocked and there was some damage to infrastructure around the the mine.
Antofagasta run four mines in Chile, employing 19,000 people. The last few weeks have seen the firm in a political battle with workers over breaches of working rights legislation.
Its flagship mine Los Pelambres is 240 km (150 miles) northeast of Santiago, the capital which has seen anti-government demonstrations, with protesters demanding an end to low wages and high living costs.
On Monday, the FTSE100 listed firm (INDEXFTSE: UKX) doubled its production cut to 10,000 tonnes pointing to a bigger hit from the workers’ protests.
The firm also added that its mines in the South American country have resumed operations. In addition, labour negotiations at the Antucoya mine have been successfully concluded, Antofagasta said.
This has resulted in the end of the strike which started on October 16, but not before 4,000 tonnes copper output was lost.
For 2019 as a whole, the London-based firm now expects production of between 750,000 and 770,000 tonnes. This is lower than the 750,000 to 790,000 tonnes forecast given previously.
In 2018, total copper production totaled to 725,300 tonnes which shows little progress year on year.
Last week, BHP (LON: BHP) said its Escondida copper mine, the world’s largest, was operating at a “reduced rate” after union workers walked off the job for part of the day in solidarity with the anti-government protest movement.
The slowed production for Antofagasta may not be as significant as made out to be as competitors such as Centamin (LON: CEY) also experienced output declines.
In its most recent update, Antofagasta said it was in talks with a new supervisors’ union at Antucoya and were expected to conclude by the end of the year.
Shares of Antofagasta currently trade at 899p per share, rising by 1.01%. 4/11/19 13:47BST
