Chile Replaces Codelco Chairman Amid Production and Debt Concerns

Published: May 18, 2026 09:10

Save

Chile’s government announced on May 14 that Bernardo Fontaine will become the new chairman of state-owned copper giant Codelco. The leadership change comes as the company faces scrutiny over rising debt, budget overruns, and unusual production fluctuations reported late last year. Authorities have ordered an external audit and investigation into recent output inconsistencies. As the world’s largest copper producer, governance changes at Codelco are being closely watched by global copper markets.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

For any inquiries or to learn more information, please contact: lemonzhao@smm.cn

For more information on how to access our research reports, please contact:service.en@smm.cn

Related News

4 mins ago

Copper Prices Pulled Back with Increased Downstream Procurement, Overall Trading Slightly Better Than Last Friday [SMM South China Spot Copper]

4 mins ago

1 hour ago

US Arctic Copper Project Enters FAST-41 Program as Domestic Critical Mineral Push Accelerates

Trilogy Metals said its Arctic copper project in Alaska has been accepted into the FAST-41 federal permitting program, aimed at accelerating approvals for major infrastructure and critical mineral projects. The project is being developed through a joint venture with South32. The company recently submitted its Clean Water Act Section 404 permit application, officially starting the federal permitting process. Trilogy also noted that the US government previously announced plans to take a 10% direct ownership stake in the company as part of efforts to strengthen domestic critical mineral supply chains. According to company estimates, the Arctic deposit contains indicated resources of approximately 35.7 million tonnes grading 2.98% copper and 4.09% zinc.

1 hour ago

Copper Prices Declined, Downstream Buying Active with Some Enterprises Seeing Orders Rise 30%

[SMM Shanghai Spot Copper] Copper prices declined intraday, dipping to around 103,500 yuan/mt. Downstream buying interest rebounded notably compared to the previous trading day. According to SMM, orders at some copper processing enterprises rebounded by more than 30% from the previous day.

1 hour ago