Remember when everyone was obsessed with gold? Well, copper just crashed the party and it’s not leaving anytime soon.
The red metal is absolutely crushing it right now. We’re talking record highs of over $11,000 per ton on the London Metal Exchange – that’s like copper putting on its Sunday best and showing off. Meanwhile, U.S. futures are dancing around $5.32 per pound, up 1.6% and looking pretty pleased with themselves.
So what’s got copper acting like it just won the lottery? Two words: supply crunch. Mines are having more drama than a reality TV show – unplanned shutdowns, tense negotiations between smelters and miners, and enough chaos to make a trader’s eye twitch. One major trading firm literally called this “the big one.” (Cue dramatic music.)
But here’s where it gets interesting. While supply is throwing a tantrum, demand is basically saying “hold my beer.” Electric vehicles are copper-hungry beasts, renewable energy grids can’t get enough of the stuff, and don’t even get me started on AI data centers – they’re basically copper vacuum cleaners.
Enter Freeport-McMoRan: The Copper King
If you’re looking to ride this copper wave, Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) is basically the Tesla of copper stocks – dominant, well-positioned, and ready to print money when prices go bonkers.
These guys are the world’s largest publicly traded copper producer, pumping out over 3.5 billion pounds annually. Their crown jewel? The Grasberg mine in Indonesia – think of it as the Willy Wonka factory of mining, except instead of chocolate, it’s spitting out copper and gold.
Now, they did hit a speed bump recently. A mudslide at Grasberg in September was like hitting pause on a Netflix binge – frustrating but temporary. FCX called “force majeure” (fancy legal speak for “nature happened, not our fault”) and is planning a phased restart for Q2 2026. By 2027, they’re expecting to be back to full beast mode: 1.6 billion pounds of copper and 1.3 million ounces of gold annually.
Why FCX Beats the Competition
Here’s what makes FCX special: they’re not just big, they’re efficient. Their production costs hover around $1.50 per pound – that’s like buying a coffee for the price of a gas station donut. When copper’s selling for over $5, that’s some serious profit margin magic.
Plus, they’re diversified. While 80% of revenue comes from copper, that gold from Grasberg acts like insurance – because sometimes you need a shiny backup plan.
The numbers don’t lie: earnings are forecast to grow at 23% annually over the next five years. At current prices around $43 per share, FCX is trading like it’s still figuring out what it wants to be when it grows up – which means there’s room to run.
Bottom line: Copper’s having its main character moment, and FCX is positioned to be the star of the show. Sometimes the best plays are hiding in plain sight.