Brasilia, 5 October 2010

Brazil will more than double its copper production by 2014 as several new projects come online, transforming it into a regular net exporter of the red metal, the head of the country's mining association said. Copper concentrate output has been been rising at a rapid pace to 210,000 tonnes in 2009, from only 26,275 tonnes in 2003 according to government data, making it close to self-sufficient in the metal already.

But five new projects coming on line between now and 2014 are likely to turn the country into a consistent net exporter. "By 2014 we will more than double our copper production. We will go from 210,000 tonnes (in 2009) to 475,000 in 2014," Paulo Camillo Penna, head of mining industry association Ibram, told Reuters in an interview.

"The improvement in the commodities prices will increase the volume of Brazilian production," he said. The five projects will require investments of $2.7 billion. Brazil's iron-ore giant Vale will account for most of this with two projects in the northern state of Para, which will turn out 254,000 tonnes per year.

Paranapanema's 30,000-tonne Boa Esperanca mine and the 40,000-tonne Vale Verde project owned by Aura Gold in the northeastern state of Alagoas, will also come on line to contribute, according to the national mining department DNPM.

Brazil tends to import most of the copper it consumes due a peculiarity of the market. Local producers often profit more by selling their output abroad. Export and import volumes are now similar but Camillo expected imports would start to fall.

Local demand for copper has been strong as the country's economy booms, with large investments in construction, the electric sector and sorely lacking infrastructure. Penna said the local mining industry had rebounded strongly after a 2009 downturn that saw prospectors abandon planned investments and return mining rights to the government, as capital required to develop them grew scarce.

Penna said that after a 2009 blip amid the global economic crisis, investment in prospecting and new mines had been rising. The industry has forecast a record $62 billion dollars in investments for the 2010-2014 period. "This could be revised upwards again this year," Penna said.

"(2010) has been exceptional ... The increase in volume and prices are taking us to a record in the value of Brazil's mining production," Penna said, estimating the value of Brazil's total mining output at $35 billion.

The total was $24 billion in 2009 and $28 billion the previous year, Penna said.

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