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), 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.
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) rising 6.4%, Anglo American PLC (LSE:AAL) 5% and Glencore PLC (LSE:GLEN) 3.1% and flipping the FTSE 100 into positive territory.