FREEPORT-MCMORAN INC (FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX), headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, is a leading international metals company whose stated objective is to be foremost in copper. It is one of the world's largest publicly traded copper producers and operates large, long-lived, geographically diverse mining assets with proven and probable reserves of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its portfolio includes the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia, the Morenci minerals district in Arizona and the Cerro Verde operation in Peru. The company is also working to raise copper output from its U.S. and South America mines by applying new technologies and data analytics to its leaching processes, targeting 300 million pounds of annual production in 2026 from these initiatives.

Operations are organized by geography through the consolidated subsidiaries Freeport Minerals Corporation and PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI). In the U.S., FCX manages seven copper operations (Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita and Miami in Arizona, and Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico) and two molybdenum mines (Henderson and Climax in Colorado). It also runs a copper smelter and rod mill in Miami, Arizona, and a refinery and rod mill in El Paso, Texas. In South America it manages Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile. In Indonesia, PTFI operates the Grasberg district, which produces copper, gold and silver, and in 2025 completed a smelter and precious metals refinery in Gresik, making it a fully integrated producer of refined copper and gold. Products include copper concentrate, copper cathode and continuous cast copper rod, as well as gold, silver, and molybdenum concentrate and molybdenum-based chemicals. FCX says it is the world's largest producer of molybdenum. In 2025, 43% of mined copper was sold as concentrate, 33% as cathode and 24% as rod. Revenues were mainly copper (75%), gold (15%) and molybdenum (8%). Production in 2025 was affected by a September 2025 mud rush incident at Grasberg, with a phased restart of the Grasberg Block Cave mine expected to begin in the second quarter of 2026.

Customers include wire and cable manufacturers, which buy rod, and rod, brass and tube fabricators, which buy cathode, as well as smelters that buy concentrate. Most U.S. copper is consumed in FCX's own rod plants, and the remainder is sold as cathode or concentrate under annual U.S. dollar contracts. South America sells under annual and multi-year contracts, while PTFI sells cathode under long-term contracts, in rupiah domestically and in U.S. dollars for export. The only customer that accounted for 10% or more of revenues in the last three years was Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, PTFI's partner in the PT Smelting joint venture, in 2024. Copper demand is tied to electrical applications, construction, consumer products, transportation and industrial machinery, along with electrification, data centers and AI, and defense spending. Pricing follows LME, COMEX and Platts benchmarks.

FCX mines under concessions or contracts with host governments in the U.S., Peru, Chile and Indonesia, and is subject to extensive environmental, reclamation and mining regulation. It had $2.0 billion recorded for environmental obligations and $3.8 billion for asset retirement obligations at year-end 2025. Other processing assets include PT Smelting, a 66%-owned copper smelter and refinery in Indonesia, and Atlantic Copper, its wholly owned smelting and refining unit in Spain. FCX holds a 72% interest in Morenci through an unincorporated joint venture.