Categories: Base Metals
Topics: General Base Metals

Copper price turns higher again - Grasberg gashed

Copper price turns higher again - Grasberg gashed

In New York on Monday copper for delivery in March jumped 1.6% to $2.7515 per pound or $6,066 a tonne after listed copper miner Freeport McMoRan said negotiations with the Indonesian government to restart exports from its Grasberg mine in Papua province has stalled. Copper is trading at levels last seen late May 2015 with year-to-date gains of just under 9%.

Phoenix-Arizona-based Freeport said in an update as a result its operating subsidiary in the country PT-FI "is proceeding with its plan to suspend investments in Papua, reduce its production by approximately 60 percent from normal levels and implement cost savings plans involving significant reductions in its work force and spending levels with local suppliers."

Freeport said its 25%-owned smelter in the Asian nation which has been hit by a strike expects to resume operations in March, but warned that its first quarter production has taken a substantial hit:

Assuming resumption of PT Smelting’s operations in March and a continuation of the ban on exports, FCX estimates its first quarter sales will be reduced, resulting in deferrals of approximately 170 million pounds and 270,000 ounces, representing a reduction of approximately 17 percent for copper and 59 percent for gold of its consolidated first quarter sales.

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