Peru Copper Production Slows

Peru’s copper production rose by 5.42% in February from the same month a year earlier, the slowest growth rate in two years as the Andean country wrestles with infrastructure damage caused by torrential rains, official data showed late Saturday, Reuters reported. The ministry of energy and mines said in a statement that copper production totaled 178,283 tons in February. Peru’s entire mining sector, a key part of the economy, grew just 1.47% in February, compared with the 33.59% rise reported in February 2016, the ministry statement said. The country has been hit by extraordinarily hard rains in 2017, which have destroyed thousands of kilometers of roads and caused other damage. Peru, the world’s second biggest copper supplier, produced a record 2.35 million tons of the metal in 2016, up 38.4% from 2015. Peru’s economy grew 0.74% in February versus February 2016, the weakest pace since late 2014 as construction and manufacturing activity contracted while mining slowed.