UPDATE 1-Chile April Copper Output up 6.4 pct from Year Ago

SANTIAGO May 28 (Reuters) - Chile, the world's No. 1 copper producer, said Friday its output of the metal rose 6.4 percent in April from the same month a year earlier.

In March, Chile's copper output rose 5.0 percent from the same month in 2009, according to data released last month.

Chile's copper industry, the backbone of its economy, emerged virtually unscathed from a Feb. 27 earthquake that killed hundreds of people and battered the wood pulp, fishing, fruit and wine industries.

The country's molybdenum production rose 5.9 percent in April from the same month the previous year to 2,745 tonnes. Molybdenum is a metal used to strengthen steel and is mostly obtained as a byproduct of copper.

Copper output rose to 454,979 tonnes in April from 427,723 tonnes during the same month a year earlier.