(Reuters) -Freeport-McMoRan said on Thursday the proposed tariffs could increase costs of goods the copper miner purchases in the United States by about 5%.
Trump’s sweeping tariffs on most U.S. imports and a rapidly intensifying trade war with China have sparked uncertainty across the mining industry and left companies scrambling to look for alternative supply chains.
“FCX is monitoring potential indirect impacts of U.S. trade policy on economic growth and the potential for impacts on demand for copper,” the company said. “Efforts are under way to evaluate alternative sourcing options to mitigate potential impacts.”
Freeport-McMoRan said it produced 868 million recoverable pounds of copper in the first quarter, lower than the 1.09 billion recoverable pounds it reported a year earlier.
The company’s unit cash costs for copper rose to $2.07 per pound from $1.51 last year.
The Phoenix, Arizona-based company’s net income attributable to common shareholders fell to $352 million, or 24 cents per share, for the three months ended March 31, from $473 million, or 32 cents per share, a year earlier.
(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
