Miners lifted by copper spike as Freeport-McMoRan warns of lower supply

A warning from one of the world's largest copper producers of lower expected sales sent copper prices spiking and lifted mining shares in London and elsewhere.  Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX, ETR:FPMB)[1], which accounts for around 8.5% of global mined copper, said it was expecting consolidated sales to be lower by about 4% for copper and nearly 6% for gold in the third quarter compared to its prior forecast. The Arizona-based miner's shares fell 7.4% in premarket trading in New York.

Freeport earlier this month paused mining in its Grasberg mine in Indonesia after a mass of wet ore material blocked access to parts of its underground mine, leaving some workers dead and trapping others.

Copper futures shot up immediately on the Wednesday update, reversing a small earlier fall, to rise 1.3% on the day to £4.6402 per lb.

This lifted London's mining giants, with Antofagasta PLC (LSE:ANTO)[2] rising 6.4%, Anglo American PLC (LSE:AAL)[3] 5% and Glencore PLC (LSE:GLEN)[4] 3.1% and flipping the FTSE 100 into positive territory.  

References

1. ^ Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX, ETR:FPMB) (www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk)
2. ^ Antofagasta PLC (LSE:ANTO) (www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk)
3. ^ Anglo American PLC (LSE:AAL) (www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk)
4. ^ Glencore PLC (LSE:GLEN) (www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk)