Peru’s mining and oil and gas sectors saw a fall in production of 12.22% in September 2020, when compared to the same month of the previous year.
In a report titled Conjunctural Advancement of Economic Activity, the country’s National Institute of Statistics and Informatics states that September marked the seventh month in a row in which oil and gas and mining output plummeted.
According to the Institute, gold, copper, lead and silver production have been the most affected by the slowdown caused by the covid-19 pandemic.
The yellow metal fell by 32.9% y-o-y, copper dropped by 16.1%, lead by 14.8% and silver by 11.7%.
Overall, the metallic mining subsector saw a 10.88% plunge when compared to September 2019.
When it comes to oil and gas, crude oil output fell by 50.7% while the gas output dropped by 13.6%.
In early October, Peru’s energy and mines minister, Miguel Inchaustegui said the reduced workforce was affecting output.
However, he reported that mining companies in operation were projecting to have 100% of their personnel back in the pits by year-end.
Back then, Inchaustegui also said that the construction of new mines was being affected by staffing issues as well, among them Anglo American’s $5.3 billion Quellaveco project in the country’s south.
Peru is the world’s no. 2 copper producer.
