* Chile’s central bank (BCCH) has reported that the country posted a trade surplus of US$2.04bn in April. The large trade surplus was attributed to a solid increase in the value of exports driven by the record high price of copper, Chile’s main export, the value of which has exceeded US$4.70 per pound in the international markets for the first time ever. According to BCCH data, Chile’s exports totalled US$8.1bn in April, a 38.7% year-on-year increase, while imports totalled US$6.07bn, a 45% year-on-year increase. Mining exports reached US$5.01bn compared with US$2.9bn in April 2020, of which US$4.54bn were copper exports. Chile’s mining industry has been able to maintain operations despite the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and has become a key sector in the hard-hit national economy, which contracted by 5.8% in 2020, largely as a result of restrictions introduced to control the pandemic.
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LatinNews Daily - 10 May 2021
In brief: Chile registers large trade surplus in April
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