© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of copper miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc is displayed at its offices in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., June 30, 2022. REUTERS/Ernest Scheyder/File Photo
(Reuters) -Copper miner Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter earnings on Thursday and slightly raised its full-year sales outlook as it began shipments from Indonesia.
The company’s shares rose 1% in premarket trading.
Average realized copper prices rose about 8.6% in the reported quarter compared to last year, as economic stimulus in China spurred hopes of an increase in industrial activity.
Freeport had obtained a license to ship copper concentrate from its Indonesian operation until May 2024, gaining an exemption from the country’s ban on raw mineral exports that had hit the company’s shipping volumes in the second quarter.
The company said it incurred export duties worth $147 million in Indonesia and was in continuing talks with the Indonesian government over the tax issue.
Average cash costs per pound of copper in the second quarter were $1.73, about 18% higher than the previous quarter, and are expected to average $1.63 per pound by 2023 due to higher export duties , the company said.
Freeport raised its 2023 copper sales volume forecast to 4.06 billion pounds, from 4 billion pounds previously.
The mining giant said its quarterly copper production rose to 1.09 billion pounds, from 1.06 billion pounds a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, the Phoenix, Arizona-based company earned 39 cents per share for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with analysts’ average estimate of 34 cents per share, according to LSEG data.
