Bermuda-based Flagstone Re said its preliminary estimate of claims relating to Chile's 8.8 magnitude earthquake is US$50mn net of reinstatement premiums and retrocession.

Chile's economy will grow 4.5-5% this year despite the impact from the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the country on February 27, said economy minister Juan Andrés Fontaine

Chilean state coal company Enacar's subsidiary Carvile has suspended for 90 days a tender to sell its assets as a result of damage to the La Fortuna coal mine in southern region VIII, a company source told BNamericas.
La Fortuna was damaged by the February 27 earthquake that hit the country's central and southern regions.

The Chilean mining sector could face cost pressures and problems in the supply of raw materials such as steel and metallurgical products in the short and medium term due to the effects of a powerful earthquake that hit central and southern Chile on February 27, Fitch Ratings said in a preliminary report.

Steel supply needed to rebuild Chilean infrastructure and housing damaged by the February 27 earthquake will be available on time, local iron and steel group CAP's chairman Roberto de Andraca said during a press conference.

Chilean insurers are well prepared to face the aftermath of the of the 8.8-magnitude earthquake - the fifth-strongest ever recorded - that occurred in Chile on February 27, given both the relative strength of the country''s earthquake-resistant construction codes and significant insurance catastrophe-loss mitigation tools, said US-based ratings agency Moody's.

Ratings agency Fitch believes that Chilean energy companies will likely be able to absorb losses resulting from the earthquake and tsunami that hit the central-south region of Chile on February 27.
 
Industry profitability ratios, however, may be moderately affected during the next few quarters, the ratings agency said in a research note.
 

Chilean generator Endesa Chile's 128MW Bocamina I thermo plant will be offline for at least 60 days due to structural damage caused by the February 27 earthquake that rocked central and southern Chile, the generator said in a letter to the country's securities regulator.

MSNBC reported that the the massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Chile more than a week ago moved the city of Concepción at least 10 feet (3 meters) to the west.
 
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Commissioning of Los Pelambres expansion delayed to second quarter
Commissioning of the US$1bn expansion project at Chile's Los Pelambres copper mine is now expected to be completed during Q2 rather than at the end of Q1 as previously scheduled, Antofagasta plc said in its 2009 financial results.