Chilean manufacturing production rose 1.3 percent in March compared to the previous year, government data showed on Tuesday, even as copper output declined in the world's top copper producer.
The slight increase in manufacturing production was driven primarily by a year-on-year increase in the production of machinery and equipment, but was counterbalanced by a 3.5 percent drop in mining output, the government statistics agency INE said.
Copper output in the world's top copper producer Chile also fell 3.5 percent to 479,080 tonnes in March, compared to 496,361 tonnes during the same month the previous year due to a drop in extraction and processing and falling ore grades at the country's largest deposits, INE said.
(By Dave Sherwood; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)