London 24/08/2016 - KGHM will not reach its production target of one million tonnes of copper by 2020 set by the Polish copper and silver miner's previous management, it told FastMarkets today.
Before he was replaced by Krzysztof Skora in a board reshuffle, former CEO Herbert Wirth last year set the goal of producing one million copper-equivalent tonnes within five years.
In the first half of this year, KGHM's net profit fell to 296 million zlotys ($78 million) from 1.19 billion zlotys a year earlier on foreign asset losses due to falling metal prices.
On Wednesday, three-month copper on the LME was trading around its lowest level since the end of June at $4,662 per tonne.
Earlier this year, the Polish government ordered an audit into KGHM's foreign assets in direct reaction to the financial situation at the company's Sierra Gorda mine. KGHM had initially forecast copper output at the mine to reach 110,000-120,000 tonnes this year.
KGHM, which owns 55 percent of Sierra Gorda, acquired the copper and molybdenum mine in 2012 when it bought Canadian rival Quadra FNX - the largest ever foreign acquisition by a Polish company. Japan's Sumitomo holds the other 45 percent of the project.
(Editing by Mark Shaw)