Chile experiences large-scale power cuts, affecting the operation of major copper mines and potentially spilling over to the global copper market.

On February 25, Chile experienced its most severe power outage in 15 years. While leaving millions of people without electricity, the outage may also have an impact on the country's copper mining operations and even the global copper market. On February 25, a failure in the 500kV power transmission system in northern Chile caused a blackout in the power supply from the northern city of Arica to the southern region of Los Lagos. This massive blackout affected over 98% of Chile's population, with more than 19 million people affected. Due to the widespread outage, the Chilean government declared a state of emergency and curfew. The National Electricity System of Chile has initiated a plan to restore services and resume power as soon as possible. Chilean state-owned copper company Codelco stated that all of its operations were affected by the outage. Codelco mentioned that measures were being taken to ensure the safety of workers and facilities. The company added that in some cases, critical systems and equipment could be powered autonomously. British-based mining company Anglo American noted that its operations in Chile lost power supply, but some services were running with the help of backup generators. Chilean mining company Antofagasta PLC stated that it was able to continue its operations using alternative energy sources. Considering that Chile accounts for around a quarter of the world's copper supply, an extended power outage could disrupt the global copper market. Chile's Interior Minister Carolina Toha mentioned that power could be restored within a few hours, but she also warned that it might take longer to restore power services to mining companies. Additionally, it was reported that US President Trump signed an executive order directing the US Department of Commerce to review possible tariffs on copper. This action is the latest in a series of measures aimed at imposing tariffs on specific industries to reshape the global supply chain. Following this news, copper futures prices in the US rose.