Freeport-McMoRan profits beat expectations as copper prices rise to cushion production decline

Freeport-McMoRan surpassed Wall Street's estimate of third-quarter profits on Thursday as higher copper prices helped offset lower production following the suspension of operations at its Grasberg Mine in Indonesia.

In premarket trading, the shares of mining companies were up by 3.3%. The shares have risen 7.1% this year.

The average copper price rose in the third quarter compared to a year ago, boosted by better signs of demand in China's key consumer as the authorities pledged to stabilize industrial development and a large hydropower project in Tibet.

The average quarterly realized price of copper was $4.68 a pound. This is up approximately 9% compared to a year ago.

Freeport-McMoRan warned of lower consolidated sales of copper and gold in the third quarter following a nearly one-month-long halt of operations at the Grasberg Mine after approximately 800,000 metric tonnes of wet materials flooded the site in September.

The company confirmed earlier this month that seven workers had been trapped underground by heavy mudflows.

The miner said that a gradual restart and ramp up of operations could occur during the first half 2026 at one of the largest gold and Copper mines in the world.

The suspension impacted the company's forecast for fourth-quarter copper and gold sales. Both were lower than they had been a year ago.

Shanghai copper reached a six-month peak in September following Grasberg's force majeure. Traders priced in further shortages of raw materials.

Freeport's third-quarter copper production was 912 million pounds recoverable, a 13.2% decrease from the previous year. Gold production fell 37.1% to 287,000 recoverable-ounces.

According to data compiled and analyzed by LSEG, the company reported an adjusted loss of 50 cents for the three-month period ended September 30. This compares with analysts' average estimates of 41 cents. Reporting by Tanay in Bengaluru, editing by Shilpi.

(source: Reuters)