Bloomberg copper supply going frowardhttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-03/copper-supply-woes-on-show-with-world-no-2-mine-output-to-halve
A battle over the world’s second-largest copper mine has dogged Freeport-McMoRan Inc. shareholders for more than a year. Now it may be the turn of the copper market.
Production at Grasberg in Indonesia will fall by more than half next year as its giant pits transition to underground operations, cutting some 300,000 metric tons of supply from a market many already believe is headed for deficit.
The drop in projected production, revealed by Freeport’s guidance, highlights the supply-side challenges facing copper. While prices have slid 17 percent from an early-June peak on fears of a global trade war, many investors, traders and mining executives remain bullish about the long-term prospects.
“The problems facing copper supply are meaningful, widespread and generally underestimated," said David Lilley, managing director of Drakewood Capital Management. "It seems like wherever you look there are challenges be they political, labor unrest, under-investment, ore-grade depletion or some combination of them all."