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Copper miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc on Thursday reported a plunge in third-quarter profit, as recession fears and covid-19 lockdowns in China hit the red metal’s prices.
LME copper has given up 30% since touching a record peak in March, largely holding in a range between $7,200 and $8,000 since end-August, pressured by covid-19 flare-ups in China, the world’s biggest metal consumer.
The Phoenix-based mining giant said average realized price for copper dropped 16.7% to $3.50 per pound at the end of the third quarter, compared to last year.
Investors are betting on copper’s critical role in reducing emissions, as the world transitions to a lower carbon economy. However, miners are battling rising costs and supply-chain constraints.
Freeport said average unit net cash costs for the North America copper mines rose 40.6% to $2.56 per pound in the reported quarter, primarily due to increased costs for energy, labor, maintenance and supplies and lower molybdenum by-product credits.
The company said net income attributable to common stock fell to $404 million, or 28 cents per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30, from $1.4 billion, or 94 cents per share, last year.
However, the miner’s adjusted profit was 26 cents per share, 2 cents above Wall Street estimates, according to Refinitiv data.
The company, which runs Indonesia’s Grasberg, one of the world’s largest copper mines, said its quarterly copper production rose 7% to 1.06 billion recoverable pounds.
(By Arshreet Singh; Editing by Maju Samuel)
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