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Copper Smelter Production by Country 2024
Copper is a metallic element on the periodic table that is used for its electrical and thermal capabilities. It is a metal that is ductile, malleable, and soft. Copper is used in several ways, including in electrical wiring, electronics, construction work, medical devices, and much more. Because of this, many countries around the world mine copper in great numbers.
Currently, the company that mines the highest number of copper is Codelco, which is a private copper mining company that is worth around $21 billion. It produced around 1.73 million metric tonnes of copper in 2021 alone. However, while Codelco is the company with the highest production rate of copper, many countries produce high levels of copper.
One of those is the country of Chile, which produced 5.7 million tonnes of copper in 2020. Not only does Codelco call Chile home, but the largest copper reserve facility, which can hold around 200 million tonnes, and can hold around 200 million tonnes. One reason Chile produces the most copper is because some of the largest mines are found there. Some examples of these are El Teniente, Collahuasi, and the Escondida.
Another country that produces large amounts of copper is Peru. Approximately 2.2 million tonnes of copper were produced in Peru in 2020. While that's a lower amount than the previous year, it is still one of the largest productions in the world. There are also some new mines that are being developed in Peru, which could increase the amount of copper produced by Peru by almost 1 million tonnes by 2024.
China is currently in third place on the list and is responsible for producing 1.7 million tonnes of copper. One of the companies in China that produces a large amount of copper is Jiangxi Copper, which produces copper from the Dexing copper mine, which is located in Jiangxi Province.
In the production work, the Democratic Republic of Congo is usually known as a large producer of cobalt. However, it also produces large amounts of copper as well. In 2020, 1.3 million tonnes of copper was produced in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Like Peru, it is also a country where copper production is expected to grow in the coming years.
The final country on the top five list of countries that produce high levels of copper is the United States. In 2020, it was estimated that the use produced around 1.2 million tonnes. The majority of that was found in the state of Arizona.
Country | Production 2020 (metric tons) | Production 2019 (metric tons) | Production 2018 (metric tons) | Production 2017 (metric tons) | Production 2016 (metric tons) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 9,656,800 | 9,088,400 | 8,597,400 | 7,980,500 | 7,540,400 |
| Japan | 1,591,500 | 1,506,677 | 1,591,236 | 1,488,151 | 1,496,674 |
| Chile | 1,206,300 | 1,011,200 | 1,246,100 | 1,264,600 | 1,365,300 |
| Russia | 1,050,200 | 1,041,000 | 1,019,000 | 946,000 | 867,000 |
| Zambia | 750,600 | 638,500 | 828,700 | 787,900 | 698,100 |
| South Korea | 679,900 | 680,000 | 670,000 | 635,000 | 635,000 |
| Poland | 532,564 | 541,146 | 511,866 | 510,573 | 507,271 |
| Germany | 516,600 | 457,900 | 468,600 | 530,900 | 501,900 |
| Australia | 402,000 | 401,000 | 361,000 | 360,000 | 445,000 |
| Kazakhstan | 375,000 | 371,359 | 327,314 | 334,844 | 310,001 |
| Bulgaria | 365,000 | 310,200 | 358,600 | 375,200 | 296,800 |
| Iran | 350,800 | 310,200 | 304,400 | 185,100 | 225,600 |
| Peru | 342,738 | 294,315 | 327,821 | 316,882 | 309,469 |
| Canada | 320,000 | 320,000 | 320,100 | 320,400 | 333,514 |
| United States | 315,000 | 464,000 | 536,000 | 470,000 | 563,000 |
| Serbia | 290,000 | 74,000 | 76,000 | 69,200 | 62,000 |
| Mexico | 288,600 | 282,700 | 291,200 | 275,200 | 272,800 |
| Indonesia | 279,598 | 163,429 | 213,767 | 245,800 | 258,800 |
| Spain | 275,900 | 272,000 | 295,400 | 283,100 | 296,900 |
| Philippines | 247,000 | 217,800 | 170,900 | 240,000 | 215,000 |
| India | 243,200 | 344,300 | 491,500 | 823,100 | 773,300 |
| Sweden | 224,600 | 195,900 | 217,300 | 210,000 | 193,700 |
| Belgium | 152,000 | 139,900 | 140,500 | 126,900 | 143,800 |
| Uzbekistan | 145,000 | 145,000 | 140,000 | 140,000 | 140,000 |
| Finland | 137,000 | 115,500 | 130,000 | 118,300 | 126,900 |
| Brazil | 109,400 | 157,100 | 140,800 | 143,600 | 215,500 |
| Turkey | 83,900 | 88,700 | 90,400 | 58,400 | 51,200 |
| Austria | 75,412 | 68,595 | 66,689 | 65,939 | 58,558 |
| Slovakia | 55,316 | 51,796 | 38,379 | 48,152 | 42,691 |
| Namibia | 46,792 | 45,953 | 48,970 | 45,523 | 40,869 |
| Vietnam | 19,200 | 19,200 | 15,100 | 15,800 | 11,600 |
| North Korea | 15,000 | 15,000 | 15,000 | 15,000 | 15,000 |
| South Africa | 13,000 | 26,000 | 33,300 | 52,600 | 51,000 |
| Pakistan | 5,700 | 13,000 | 12,500 | 10,000 | 14,000 |
| Oman | 6,000 | 5,100 | 11,300 | ||
| Armenia | 8,831 | 12,051 | 12,920 | ||
| Botswana | 11,348 | ||||
| Total | 21,161,620 | 19,871,770 | 20,110,673 | 19,509,815 | 19,114,215 |