Freeport's Q3 performance exceeded expectations thanks to an increase in copper production and sales

According to SMM, the mining company Freeport-McMoran disclosed its third-quarter results, with net profit of US$454 million, or 31 cents per share, compared with US$404 million, or 28 cents per share, in the same period last year. Profits beat Wall Street expectations, driven by higher copper production and sales. However, the net cash cost of US$1.73/lb was higher than expected, mainly due to Indonesia’s controversial export tariffs which grew the cost by US$0.13/lb.

Freeport said consolidated average unit net cash costs for copper ore, net of by-product credits, were $1.73 per pound in the third quarter, up from an estimated $1.61 per pound in July 2023.

The company added that its consolidated average unit net cash cost (net of by-product credits) for the third quarter of 2023 was $1.73 per pound, which was slightly lower than the third quarter 2022 average unit net cash cost of $1.75 per pound.

The company's copper production in the third quarter was 1.085 billion pounds, an increase of 3% from 1.056 billion pounds in the third quarter of 2022.

Gold production in the third quarter was 532,000 ounces, an increase of 19% from 448,000 ounces in the third quarter of 2022; molybdenum production in the third quarter was 20 million pounds, an increase of 5% compared with 19 million pounds in the third quarter of 2022.

Copper sales in the third quarter were 1.1 billion pounds, 8% higher than the 1.03 billion pounds expected in July 2023, and 5% higher than the 1.06 billion pounds sales in the third quarter of 2022.

Gold sales in the third quarter were 399,000 ounces, 5% lower than the 420,000 ounces expected in July 2023, and 17% lower than the 480,000 ounces expected in the third quarter of 2022.

Freeport adjusted its fourth-quarter copper sales target to 1.09 billion pounds from 1.13 billion pounds, but the full-year sales target of 4.06 billion pounds is still higher than the previous 4.02 billion pounds due to strong third-quarter copper sales targets. It increased its fourth-quarter gold sales target from 565,000 ounces to 580,000 ounces. Full-year cash cost guidance was raised to $1.63/lb from $1.55/lb.

Kathleen Quirk, president of Freeport, said: "Despite near-term global economic and market uncertainty, our belief in copper's favorable long-term fundamentals underpins our copper-first-focused strategy. Recent weakness in copper prices, combined with rising capital costs for developing new mines, has made it more difficult to justify new project development, which is critical for the future. "

In addition, Kathleen Quirk also said that due to inflation and falling global copper prices, the company will slow down its expansion plans.