US mining giant Freeport-McMoRan on Thursday posted a lower-than-expected profit for the second quarter, hurt by lower realised copper prices.
Demand for copper, often seen as an economic bellwether, took a hit during the reported quarter over recession fears as well as Covid-19 lockdowns in top metals consumer China.
Benchmark copper prices fell around 20.4% over the April-to-June quarter, their biggest quarterly slump since 2011.
Freeport, the world's largest publicly traded copper miner, reported average realised copper prices of $4.03/lb, from last year's $4.34/lb.
The company notes that current prices of copper are insufficient to support new mines, which is expected to worsen a tight global supply of copper.
Copper production in the second quarter rose 17.7% to 1.08-billion pounds.
The Phoenix, Arizona-based firm reported net income of $840-million, or 57c a share, for the quarter ended June 30, from $1.08-billion, or 73c a share, a year ago.
Excluding items, the company earned 58c a share, missing analysts' estimates of 61c a share, as per Refinitiv data.
Revenue fell 5.8% to $5.42-billion, also falling short of market expectations of $6.13-billion.
Freeport-McMoran's second quarter was weighed down by inflation, lower copper prices.