Codelco implements contingency plan to mitigate sharp decline in price of copper

SANTIAGO.- The Chief Executive Officer of Codelco, José Pablo Arellano, gave a sort of eulogy today for the cycle of high copper prices indicating that from now on, a new reality will prevail at the state-owned company that will be characterized by a contingency plan, about which he opted not to divulge further details.

The announcement comes following a more than US $1.00 drop in the value of the red metal just in the month of October, which has caused the commodity to trade at lows that have not been observed in at least 3 years.

"We are working to take charge of this reality, there has been an abrupt plunge in prices, we knew that we had high prices that were not long-term, but before this international crisis there was a more extended horizon along which the prices would gradually fall", stated the CEO.

"As a result of this crisis, there has been an abrupt plummet that is forcing us to react to this new scenario", he added.

Arellano also stated that not one division is operating at a loss and indicated that the investment projects would not be affected and would continue to move forward. In order to finance the projects, the company will turn to internal and external resources, although it must first perform a detailed analysis of the current international situation.