Freeport-McMoRan has requested approval from the Indonesian government to permit the export of copper concentrate in 2025 "until the required repairs of its new smelter following the October 2024 fire incident and full ramp-up are complete."

Current regulations in Indonesia prohibit exports of copper concentrate as of January 1, 2025.

Freeport-McMoRan's fire-hit giant Manyar copper smelter in East Java, Indonesia, is reportedly expected to remain offline until the July-September quarter of this year and spend the following six months in ramp-up mode before returning to normal operation. Repairs are expected to cost $100 million, it said.

The copper smelter – among the world's largest with an output capacity of 650,000t of copper cathodes and 50-60t of gold – was launched in June 2024, started in September, and was intended to reach full capacity before the end of 2024. 

Then came the fire on October 14. It occurred in a gas cleaning facility designed to remove particles from gases before conversion to sulphuric acid. 

Based on discussions with the Indonesian government to date, the company said in its results today, that it expects to recommence exports of copper concentrate during the first quarter of 2025 and, pursuant to current regulations, would be required to pay a 7.5% export duty on copper concentrate exports during 2025.

Q4 results

Freeport's fourth-quarter profit was helped by higher copper prices, which offset its lower production volumes, the company said in its fourth-quarter results.

Operating income for the fourth quarter was at $1.24 billion, and $6.86 billion for the year. 

Copper output totalled 1.04Blb for Q4, down marginally on a year-on-year basis (Q4 2023: 1.09Blb) and 4.214Blb for the year (2023: 2.212Blb).

Costs for 2024 decreased on the whole, totalling $1.56/lb in 2024 (2023: $1.61/lb). However, on a quarter comparative basis, the net cash per pound for copper produced in Q4 2024 was higher than in Q4 2023.

For gold, the company posted output of 432,000oz in Q4 2024 and sales of 350,000oz at an average realised price of $2,628/oz. For the year, Freeport-McMoRan saw an output of 1.88Moz (down from 1.99Moz in 2023) but higher year-on-year sales of 1.83Moz (2023: 1.71Moz).

Fourth-quarter 2024 copper sales of 992Mlb were slightly above the October 2024 estimate, the company surmised, adding that "consistent with expectations, fourth-quarter 2024 copper sales were lower than fourth-quarter 2023 sales of 1.1Blb, primarily reflecting lower ore grades and the timing of shipments at PT-FI" (the company's Indonesia smelter).

Consolidated sales volumes for the year 2025 are expected to approximate 4Blb of copper, 1.6 Moz of gold and 88Mlb of molybdenum.

For Q1, Freeport-McMoRan is forecasting output of 850Mlb copper, 225,000oz gold and 22Mlb of molybdenum.

Consolidated unit net cash costs (net of by-product credits) for the company's copper mines are expected to average $1.60/lb copper for the year 2025, and cost estimates and assuming average prices of $2,700/oz gold and $20/lb of molybdenum for the year 2025, it added.

Elsewhere, Freeport-McMoRan said that it is preparing data for a potential submission of an environmental impact statement by year-end 2025 on its El Abra operations in Chile to support a mill project similar to the one at Cerro Verde.

"Preliminary estimates, which remain under review, indicate that the project economics would be supported using an incentive copper price of less than $4.00/lb," Freeport said.