SANTIAGO -(Dow Jones)- Copper output at Chilean state copper company Codelco's wholly owned mines fell 10% in the first quarter to 373,000 metric tons from 414,000 tons in the same quarter last year, Codelco Chief Executive Diego Hernandez said Wednesday. Codelco's total January-March production, which includes output from the El Abra mine, in which the company holds a 49% stake, fell to 390,000 tons from 425,000 tons. El Abra is operated by 51% shareholder Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX). With copper averaging $3.77 a pound in the first three months of the year, Codelco's pretax profit fell to $1.45 billion from $2.32 billion during the same quarter a year ago, when copper averaged $4.38/lb. If Codelco's earnings were reported using the same tax requirements as private companies, the state-owned company would have posted a net profit of $1.12 billion, compared with $1.40 million in the first quarter of 2011. -By Carolina Pica, Dow Jones Newswires; 56-2-715-8919; carolina.pica@dowjones.com
