Citi keeps Antofagasta at £44 target despite lower 2026 copper forecast

What Brokers Say Mining Written by: Ian Lyall 13:05 Thu 20 Aug 2026 --> Disclaimer No investment advice About this content Editorial Standards & Policies Share article About this content × About Ian Lyall Ian Lyall, a seasoned journalist and editor, brings over three decades of experience to his role as Managing Editor at Proactive. Overseeing Proactive's editorial and broadcast operations across six offices on three continents, Ian is responsible for quality control, editorial policy, and content production. He directs the creation of 50,000 pieces of real-time news, feature articles, and filmed interviews annually. Prior to Proactive, Ian helped lead the business output at the Daily... Read more About the publisher Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast, accessible, informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience. All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists. Proactive news team spans the world’s key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney and Perth. We are experts in medium and small-cap markets, we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies, commodities and broader investment stories. This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors. The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies. Use of technology Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter. Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience. The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows. Proactive will on occasion use automation and software tools, including generative AI. Nevertheless, all content published by Proactive is edited and authored by humans, in line with best practice in regard to content production and search engine optimisation. Antofagasta PLC ( LSE:ANTO ) View Price & Profile Citi keeps Antofagasta at £44 target despite lower 2026 copper forecast Published: 13:05 20 Aug 2026 BST Citi has kept a Buy rating and £44 target price on Antofagasta PLC (LSE:ANTO) , the London-listed copper producer, despite lowering its 2026 production forecast after weather disruption at Los Pelambres. Citi expects Antofagasta to produce 634,000 tonnes of copper this year, towards the lower end of the company’s revised guidance of 625,000 to 655,000 tonnes. The bank said the disruption and subsequent guidance reduction had caused a small pullback in Antofagasta’s share price after its results, while warning that Chile’s winter season is only halfway through and strong El Niño effects could create further risks. Citi nevertheless expects cash flows to improve through 2026 and 2027, helping to offset the near-term production weakness. The longer-term outlook is stronger, with Citi forecasting Antofagasta’s 2029 copper production to be 27% higher than its 2026 output as the Centinela expansion begins to ramp up next year. Antofagasta has said its Centinela Second Concentrator and Los Pelambres growth projects are progressing towards completion of commissioning in 2027, with the projects expected to increase group copper production by about 30%. The bank estimates Antofagasta’s share price currently implies a copper price of about $7.10 a pound, above the current spot price but broadly consistent with the premium copper has commanded over the past two years. Antofagasta’s first-half results showed the company’s cash-generation strength, with operating cash flow rising 53% to $2.77 billion and EBITDA increasing 27% to $2.84 billion. The Citi outlook therefore points to near-term operational risk but continued confidence in Antofagasta’s longer-term production growth and cash-flow potential. Continue reading