Chile July Copper Output up 6.3 PCT YR/YR

Aug 30 (Reuters) -

Chile, the world's No. 1 copper producer, said on Monday its output of the red metal CLCOPP=ECI rose 6.3 percent to 454,178 tonnes in July from the same month a year earlier.

In June, Chile's copper output dropped 0.6 percent to 465,033 tonnes from the same month in 2009, according to data released last month by the the National Statistics Institute.

Big and medium-sized companies increased their output in July, mostly that of concentrate copper, which is used in everything from power lines to water pipes.

Molybdenum output in July rose 28.3 percent to 3,309 tonnes while production climbed 3.5 percent to 20,109 tonnes in the January to July period versus last year.

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