Freeport Falls as Copper Giant Trims Outlook Amid Metals Rally

  • New guidance tempers rise of copper and gold sales volumes
  • CEO sees ‘substantial’ increase in margins and cashflow ahead

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. fell after the mining giant trimmed expectations for copper sales this year -- even as heightened global demand for the industrial metal fuels a price rally.

Photographer: Martin Leissl/Bloomberg

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Freeport-McMoRan Inc. fell after the mining giant trimmed expectations for copper sales this year -- even as heightened global demand for the industrial metal fuels a price rally.

Freeport revised its sales volume forecasts for 2021 after posting fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates, helped by better-than-anticipated copper and gold sales in the period. The Phoenix-based miner now expects copper sales of 3.8 billion pounds for 2021, down from an October projection of 3.85 billion, while its annual gold sales forecast was pared 7.1% to 1.3 million ounces.