Copper prices rose on Friday and were sitting on strong weekly gains as major producer Freeport-McMoran (NYSE:FCX) said its Grasberg mine in Indonesia will remain suspended amid attempts to rescue seven missing workers.
Benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.2% to $10,981.20 a ton– a near six-month high. COMEX copper futures rose 0.2% to $4.6788 a pound and were at an over one-month high.
Both contracts were also trading up between 1.9% and 3% this week.
Freeport said on Friday that production at Grasberg, one of the world’s biggest copper mines, will remain suspended amid efforts to rescue seven workers trapped after a mud flow blocked parts of the underground complex.
Production at the mine was halted earlier this week.
Freeport said “additional time” was required to safely remove material and restore access to lower mine levels. The company also said it was not able to locate the missing workers so far.
“A prolonged disruption at the second largest copper mine in the world could tighten the market,” ANZ analysts said in a note.
They noted that copper was also buoyed by increasing bets on a U.S. interest rate cut next week, which is expected to boost global economic activity and potentially support copper demand.
Grasberg, which is jointly owned by Freeport and the Indonesian government, is the world’s second-biggest copper mines by reserves. The mine produced about 816,466 tonnes of copper in 2024, representing roughly 3.6% of global mined copper output.
