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Bloomberg reported that Freeport McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) is set to move ahead of Chile’s Codelco as world’s biggest copper producer next year, as the miner continues to expand operations despite lower copper prices.
Bloomberg reported that Freeport McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) is set to move ahead of Chile’s Codelco as world’s biggest copper producer next year, as the miner continues to expand operations despite lower copper prices.
As quoted in the publication:
The Phoenix-based company will close the gap with current world No. 1 Codelco next year after expanding mines in Peru and the U.S. and as the Chilean state-owned company runs out of profitable ore at a mine in the Atacama Desert.
For those predicting a more precipitous demand slump as China shifts to a consumer-driven economy, Freeport’s growth makes little sense. But for the company — whose 76-year-old Chairman Jim Bob Moffett oversaw the discovery of the world’s biggest copper-gold operation in the jungles of Indonesia 27 years ago — the industry’s aging mines will struggle to keep up with even moderate global demand growth. It’s a view shared by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and Macquarie Group Ltd., which predict shortages emerging beginning 2017.