By Pratima Desai

LONDON (Reuters) – Codelco’s copper losses from the accident at its El Teniente mine are likely to be 45% higher than previously estimated, but Chairman Maximo Pacheco still expects the world’s largest copper miner to slightly increase output this year.

Loss of output from Chile’s El Teniente along with other disruptions including at Freeport-McMoRan’s Grasberg mine in Indonesia has tightened supplies and pushed copper prices to $11,000 a metric ton this week, close to the record hit last year.

The July accident at El Teniente, Codelco’s most profitable mine, will reduce its output by 48,000 metric tons this year and cost the company around $500 million in EBITDA.

In an interview ahead of LME Week, a gathering of the global metal industry in London, Pacheco said Codelc

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