By Ernest Scheyder
HOUSTON, March 23 (Reuters) - Freeport-McMoRan expects demand for copper for use in electrification, data centers and other high-tech areas to remain resilient despite market jitters tied to the Iran conflict, CEO Kathleen Quirk told Reuters on Monday.
Copper, one of the best electricity-conducting metals, is used worldwide in motors, computers, batteries and wiring and is nicknamed "Dr. Copper" because demand for it is a barometer of global economic health. The artificial intelligence
industry, especially, is gobbling up more copper supplies for computer servers and related facilities.
Prices for the red metal, though, have dropped nearly 10% since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran in late February.
Quirk, who became CEO of the Phoenix-based company in 2024, said that while the copper market has been rattled by the conflict, she expects global appetite for the metal to grow.
"The market is pricing in some uncertainty about global economic growth, and Dr. Copper is something that affects the perception of global risk," Quirk said on the sidelines of the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston. "But the things that are driving copper demand are more secular in nature."
Freeport hosted customers at its headquarters earlier this month and the conversations were dominated by the tech sector's needs for the red metal, Quirk said.
"I don't think that's going to get derailed," she said.
The world's largest publicly traded copper company produced 1.3 billion pounds (589,670 metric tons) of copper in the U.S. last year - all of which was sold domestically - and 3.38 billion pounds (1,533,142 metric tons) globally.
SEEKING MORE U.S. SUPPORT
In the U.S., Quirk said that Freeport is encouraging the federal government to do more to support the copper industry, adding that "some kind of economic incentive would be important to incentivize companies to invest in the U.S. versus opportunities internationally."
President Donald Trump last July imposed a 50% tariff on semi-finished copper products, but left out copper input materials such as ores, concentrates, and cathodes that Freeport produces. The Trump administration has hinted it may revisit its tariff decision later this year.
Quirk said that Freeport would be open to an acquisition if the right opportunity presented itself, but that the company would focus on its internal growth opportunities, including its work to leach copper from waste rock.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, which Freeport left in 2016 and has said it would like to re-enter, Quirk said she has yet to find an appealing target.
"We're open to the idea, but there's not any obvious development opportunity for us to go back," Quirk said.
In Chile, Freeport last week filed an environmental application for a $7.5 billion expansion of its El Abra copper mine. The move came just days after Chile inaugurated right-leaning President Jose Antonio Kast.
"What's exciting in Chile is that there is a real desire by the government to encourage investment," Quirk said. "The new president coming in is going to want to advance investment even more."
(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Nia Williams)
