According to Diario Financiero, which reports the foreign trade figures published by the Banco Central (Chile's central bank) on Wednesday, Chilean exports reached US$ 10,584 million in September. That is a 14.1% increase over the same month in 2025 and a faster pace than in previous months.
Copper contributed more than half. Its shipments totaled US$ 5,971 million, 14% more than a year earlier. The outlet attributes the result to an acceleration in cathodes, which are sheets of already refined copper, and to a recovery in concentrates, the partially processed ore.
Within mining, lithium carbonate stood out again, with exports up 128%. The amount, however, was limited to US$ 360 million, just over one sixth of what the country sold in copper during the same month.
Industrial exports grew 19% year on year and reached US$ 3,280 million. Food rose 18%, and within that category salmon exceeded US$ 500 million. Agricultural and livestock sales advanced 8.9% to US$ 561 million, thanks to higher fruit sales.
Imports also accelerated. They totaled US$ 9,203.9 million in CIF value (which includes the cost, insurance and freight of the goods) and grew 14% over 12 months. The biggest jump came from intermediate goods, the inputs companies use to produce: they reached US$ 5,030 million, 25.8% more than a year earlier, led by diesel.
Consumer goods, such as clothing, cars or household appliances, rose 13.1% to US$ 2,474.2 million. The exception was capital goods, which fell about 9.4% year on year, to around US$ 1,699 million, extending their losing streak due to lower purchases of machinery and investment equipment.
This last figure matters more than it seems. Capital goods are the tools an economy uses to expand its capacity: mining trucks, cranes, industrial machinery. If a company does not buy equipment today, it is unlikely to produce more tomorrow. That is why Diario Financiero's headline speaks of a two-speed Chile: sales abroad are accelerating, but investment is not keeping up.
For your pocket, the impact is indirect. Weak investment usually translates into fewer new projects and, with that, less future employment. The outlet's report does not include its own projections on this point.
The official context points in the same direction. Hacienda (Chile's Ministry of Finance), headed by Minister Jorge Quiroz, cut its growth projection for 2026 to a range of 0.25% to 0.75%, after a larger-than-expected mining decline in August. For 2027 it projects 3.3%, with investment rising 8.1%.
With these figures, September's trade balance, the difference between what Chile sells and what it buys abroad, reached US$ 2,047.4 million, compared with US$ 1,756.0 million a year earlier.
