Antofagasta misses 2009 copper target

3rd Feb 2010 10:46

Copper miner Antofagasta produced 442,500 tonnes of the red metal in 2009, missing its targets and seeing a fall from the previous year.The Chile-focused miner had lifted its target for 2009 to 447,000 in August from an earlier estimate of 433,000 tonnes. It produced 477,700 tonnes of copper the previous year.The fall in production was mainly due to a reduction in output from its Los Pelambres mine in Chile, where annual production in 2009 was 311,600 tonnes, down from 339,200 tonnes in 2008.At the El Tesoro mine copper cathode production slipped to 90,200 tonnes from 90,800 tonnes, while the Michilla mine produced 40,600 tonnes, down from 47,700 the previous year.Copper prices at the London Metal Exchange rose to $3.01 a pound in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with $2.65 in the third quarter, Antofagasta said. 'No surprises here,' says broker Ambrian. 'Cash costs were up YoY because by-product credits were down. The net effect of the actuals vs. our estimates was not enough to alter our FY EPS forecasts.'The miner is its top pick with pure-play exposure to copper, one of Ambrian's favoured commodities for 2010, and remains a 'buy' with £11 price target.