Freeport-McMoRan profit beats estimates on higher copper prices

Freeport-McMoRan beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter earnings on Thursday, as the miner benefited from higher demand and increased prices for copper.

Copper prices touched an all-time record high of $10 747.50/t in May. Bullish investors bet that demand for the red metal will increase further as the world economy recovers from Covid-19 woes and as investments into green energy sectors ramp up.

The average realized price Freeport received per pound of the red metal rose 70% in the second quarter, while copper production increased about 19% to 913 million pounds.