BHP copper output falls 19% as annual guidance holds
Key Facts
BHP's copper production fell to 400.7 thousand tonnes in the first quarter of its financial year, ended 30 September 2026, according to its operational report. Output declined 19% from the same period a year earlier. Production also fell by the same percentage from the previous quarter, as operations were affected by lower ore grades, maintenance and temporary disruptions. Despite this, the group maintained its copper production guidance for the 2027 financial year at 1,650 to 1,800 thousand tonnes. The chief executive attributed part of the decline in volumes to "planned lower ore grades and scheduled maintenance", according to the company's statement accompanying the report.
At Escondida, copper production on a whole-mine basis totalled 252.6 thousand tonnes during the quarter, according to figures in the operational report. Output fell 23% year on year and 19% from the previous quarter. In its results released in August, the company had forecast that the copper grade of ore fed to Escondida's concentrators would be about 0.70% during what was then the coming financial year. That estimate preceded the announcement of results for the quarter ended September and formed part of its operating outlook for the asset. Alongside the planned decline in ore grades, the chief executive said temporary disruptions included "severe weather in Chile, safety stoppages and a conveyor failure at Carrapateena".
The production decline extended to Spence, which produced 47.4 thousand tonnes of copper during the quarter, according to the company's operational report. Volumes at the asset fell 15% from the same period a year earlier and 13% from the previous quarter. Copper South Australia produced 60.7 thousand tonnes over the same period. The division recorded a year-on-year decline of 16% and a quarterly decrease of 33%. The quarter-on-quarter production decline at Copper South Australia was therefore larger than the decreases at both Escondida and Spence, based on a comparison of the operating figures released by the group.
By contrast, copper production at Antamina rose to 40.0 thousand tonnes, bucking the declines at the other assets mentioned in the report. Output increased 18% year on year and 13% from the previous quarter. Across the group, lower copper production volumes coincided with an increase in the average realised price to $7.01 per pound, according to the operational report. That price represented a 53% increase from the same period a year earlier. The average realised price also rose 7% from the previous quarter, leaving the company's realised prices higher on both annual and quarterly comparisons while overall production volumes declined.
The quarterly results follow a financial year in which the group's copper production totalled 1,953 thousand tonnes, according to its 2026 financial year results announcement. That output was 3% lower than the previous year. The copper division, however, generated underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $18.2 billion during the same financial year. The division's earnings on this measure rose 48% year on year despite the decline in its annual production volume. Copper contributed 54% of the group's total underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, putting the division's performance at the forefront of its annual results.
Over the longer term, BHP said in its annual results that it sees potential to increase copper production by about 40% by the 2035 financial year. The company links this potential increase to its projects in Chile, Australia and Argentina. Its expansion plans are based on its estimates of growth in global copper demand from about 34 million tonnes a year at the time of the results announcement. The company expects demand to exceed 50 million tonnes a year by 2050, according to the estimates presented in the same announcement. On a nearer-term milestone in its operating plans, the group confirmed that it aims to begin potash production at the Jansen project in mid-2027.