The logo of Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, is seen at their headquarters in downtown Santiago, Chile March 29, 2018. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado

By Fabian Cambero

SANTIAGO (Reuters) -Chile's Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, cut on Tuesday its forecast for 2025 output, despite higher production in the year's first nine months through September.

The state-owned miner lowered its copper production guidance to 1.31 million to 1.34 million metric tons this year, from a prior estimate of 1.34 million to 1.37 million metric tons, but still aims to exceed last year's 1.321 million tons.

Copper prices set an all-time high last week, spurred by concerns over mine supply and hopes of a U.S.-China trade deal.

Codelco highlighted a production increase at its Ministro Hales mine and the role of the Rajo Inca structural project at the Salvador mine, which is ramping up production.

CEO Ruben Alvarado added the guidance cut "does not jeopardize" expectations to produce 1.7 million tons annually by 2030.

OUTPUT UP 2.1%

In the first nine months of the year, the miner's output totaled 937,000 tons, up 2.1% from the same period last year.

The production increase was achieved despite an accident on July 31 at its flagship El Teniente mine - Codelco's most profitable operation - which forced a temporary halt to mining and smelting.

"This unfortunate accident impacted the production results achieved at the end of the second quarter of this year," the company said in a statement.

Alvarado added that Codelco expects to have more conclusive information about the accident by the end of the year.

By year-end, Codelco also expects to have a long-term development plan for El Teniente that will mitigate the lack of production with resources from the southern side of the deposit, Vice President of Operations Mauricio Barraza said.

He noted it will take three years to attain the production level El Teniente had before the incident, which killed six workers.

The company posted a pre-tax profit of $606.9 million from January to September, slightly below the $612.2 million reported in the same period last year.

(Reporting by Fabian Cambero and Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; Editing by Kylie Madry, Rod Nickel)