Category: Chile

LAN, Chile´s leading airline, reported a net profit of $26.6 million in the second quarter, down 16 percent year-on-year. The company attributed the decrease to higher fuel costs, as crude oil prices hover near record levels. Revenue rose 23 percent to $570 million. LAN operates in Chile, Ecuador, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and recently introduced a new subsidiary, LAN Argentina.

Chile´s business confidence rose in July to the highest level in five months after miners reported a rise in production, a survey of over 500 companies published by the central bank showed. The monthly indicator rose 1.96 points to 61.66 from 59.71 in June and from 57.55 in July 2004. The indicator among miners rose to 82.88 from 65.62 in June, the highest level since the survey began in November 2003. Copper prices are near record levels, thanks largely to increased demand from China.

Chilean state-run copper company Codelco announced that it will receive a $550 million payment from Chinese Minmetals in September. The two companies have signed an agreement under which Codelco will priode Minmetals with 57,000 tons of copper per year. The contract also envisages the establishment of a company which will invest in mining projects in Chile and abroad. Earlier this year China overtook the US as the leading importer of Chilean copper.

More than 500 striking workers at Placer Dome’s Zaldivar copper mine in Chile voted to accept a new three-year contract and will return to work on Wednesday. Although the company has made no comment regarding lost production, most analysts believe the impact on total production will be minimal since the company processed reserves throughout the week-long strike. The Zaldivar mine is scheduled to produce 150,000 metric tons of copper this year.

Chile´s trade surplus grew to $980 million in June, up from $580 million a year earlier, on surging copper prices. Demand abroad and rising spending at home will lead the country´s economy to grow about 6 percent this year, according to Chilean Finance Minister Nicolas Eyzaguirre. The economy grew 6.1 percent last year, its fastest pace in seven years.

Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet had his presidential immunity stripped by a Chilean court as part of an investigation into the disappearance of suspected opponents of his regime in the 1970s. The ruling by the Santiago Court of Appeals allows a judge to question Pinochet in a probe of “Operation Colombo,” a secret police conspiracy that targeted enemies of the military government. During Pinochet´s regime from 1973 to 1990, more than 3,000 people died and more than 29,000 people were tortured, according to government committees formed after he left power.

Chile’s economy grew 6.4 percent in May, the fastest pace in five months, after rising sales at retailers and manufacturers spurred companies to increase investment. Consumer prices rose 0.4 percent in June, up from 0.3 percent in May, and the central bank may increase its benchmark lending rate, currently at 3.25 percent, when it meets this month. The bank aims to keep annual inflation at around 3 percent.

Placer Dome, the world’s fifth-largest gold producer, halted production at its Zaldivar copper mine in Chile as workers went on strike Monday. Union leaders are demanding improved wages, more bonuses and better healthcare. Zaldivar is scheduled to produce 151 thousand metric tons of copper this year.

Chilean toll road concessionaire Talca-Chillan issued $170 million in bonds denominated on the country’s inflation-indexed unit, the UF. The bonds were 1.6 times oversubscribed and were rated BBB by Standard & Poor’s and Baa2 by Moody’s. The company will use the funds to refinance debt and pay for additional works as required under the country’s ministry of public works traffic insurance policy.

Chile-based airline LAN will spend $750 million to buy 25 new Airbus A318 and A319 jets. The company is looking to expand flights within Latin America, including Argentina where its subsidiary LAN Argentina began flights last month. LAN also has subsiduaries in Peru, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic