CU outlook26 Oct 2019 10:26
While trade tensions and sluggish global economic growth have weighed on the copper market, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. President and CEO Richard Adkerson said he expects strong demand to support prices.
"They're simply not sustainable," Adkerson said about decreased copper prices on an Oct. 23 earnings call, noting Wood Mackenzie estimates a US$3.30/lb copper price is needed to incentivize new production.
Adkerson pointed to low inventories of copper and increasing use of the metal in applications such as electric vehicles as signs that the copper market was in decent health. "Even with the economic effects we're seeing, the demand for copper remains relatively strong throughout the world, in China and the U.S. and elsewhere," he said.