Freeport Poised to Overtake Codelco as Top Producer

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.

Click here to read the full Bloomberg article.