Chile mines 1/4 of world’s copper, but smelts just 4%
Chile produced about 23% of global copper concentrate in 2025 but its share of worldwide smelted copper production fell from more than 13% in 1990 to 4.2%. Its smelters operate at about 60% of nominal capacity, and about two-thirds of its concentrate exports go to China. Cochilco recommends improving operational continuity at existing plants before committing to new expansions.
Why it matters: This matters for the supply-chain theme because Chile's reliance on Chinese smelting transfers downstream processing leverage to Beijing.