Antofagasta increases production in Q4

Antofagasta's share price (ANTO: LSE) is up 0.63% in London trading as the market welcomed the latest Q4 update. The company said that copper production for the full year was 733,900 tons, which was in line with forecast and 4.7% below the record production for 2019. The decrease was primarily due to expected lower grades at Centinela Concentrates. Nonetheless, copper production in the 4th quarter of 2020 was 192,600 t, which is 13.6% higher than in the previous quarter, which can be attributed to a higher throughput in all plants. The highlight in the report is gold production. In the most recent quarter, the company produced 54,700 ounces, 42.8% more than the previous quarter. Total annual production was 204,100 ounces above forecast, but 27.7% less than 2019 due to expected lower grades at Centinela Elsewhere, molybdenum production was 3,700 tons in the quarter, 8.8% higher than in the previous quarter. For the full year, production was 12,600 tons, 8.6% higher than 2019 and within forecast. Iván Arriagada, CEO of Antofagasta plc, said, "We expect another solid performance in 2021 with copper production of 730-760,000 tonnes at a net cash cost of $ 1.25 / lb as ore grades increase and at Centinela Concentrates the operational efficiency in our mines remains high. " The company has clearly been in a good 12 months based on the stock's daily chart below. There is now support level on the purple line near 1464, but the bulls will attempt to break the previous wave high on the red line at 1616.5. When the resistance breaks it the uptrend is firm again.