Freeport McMoRan CEO: Copper Market Headed For Deficit In 2012
April 19 2012 - 11:46AM
Dow Jones News
Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.'s (FCX) chief executive
said the fundamentals of the copper market remain strong, supported
by low inventories of the industrial metal in Europe and the U.S.
and ongoing infrastructure projects in China.
"Overall the copper market continues to be positive given the
uncertainties we've been living with...2012 appears to be another
year of a deficit in the copper market," Richard Adkerson said on
the company's first-quarter earnings conference call.
"The industry continues to face supply constraints from
interruptions to existing operations and the challenges of bringing
on new projects," he said, adding that global inventories of copper
remain low.
China, the world's largest consumer of copper at about 40% of
global output, continues to investment in infrastructure even as it
takes steps to control its economic growth.
"China remains the important demand driver. As I indicated,
investments in urbanization and infrastructure support the market
place. All of those investments require significant amounts of
copper," Adkerson said. He added that as the size of China's
economy increases, incremental growth translates into significant
copper consumption.
Europe, which as a region is the world's second-largest copper
consumer behind China, remains a point of concern.
"Europe is weak, but it is not as weak as some feared going into
the second half of 2011," Adkerson said.
Meanwhile, an uptick in manufacturing, "particularly auto
sales," has contributed to greater consumption, Adkerson said.
-By Tatyana Shumsky, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3095;
tatyana.shumsky@dowjones.com
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