Paralysis of Las Bambas influenced the drop in mining in December

For the second consecutive month, in December of last year the mining sector registered figures in the red and fell 6.07%, according to advanced data from the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI).

This is the biggest drop since January of last year, when it fell 8.45%. The INEI explained that the contraction is due to a less favorable performance of the metal mining subsector due to lower production volumes of iron, zinc, lead, copper and gold.

In this regard, the analyst Peru21 columnist Anthony Laub explained to this newspaper that the stoppage of Las Bambas in December 2021 was the main consequence of this result for mining in the last month of the year.

“The theme of Las Bambas hadn’t come up since December; that is why in November it also fell. The problem has been registered since the Southern Mining Corridor was blocked”, he indicated.

He also mentioned that said mining project represents 0.08% of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), so it is important that it continue.

“We must also take into account the statements against mining by some members of the previous cabinet who even spoke of closing mines,” he said.

On the other hand, in December, another sector that registered a fall was fishing, which fell 12.60%, according to INEI data. Meanwhile, the demand for cement fell 0.27%. For its part, the electricity subsector registered an advance of 2.47% last January.

Public investment

On the other hand, public investment did not start the year on the right foot and, according to figures from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), only S/821 million were executed in January, an amount 18% lower than that registered in the same month of 2021.

In this way, this indicator accumulates four months of consecutive falls, despite the fact that in 2021 it grew 38.7% compared to 2020.