This Morning in Metals: Anglo American Reports 4Q 2018 Production Figures

This morning in metals news, miner Anglo American reported fourth-quarter 2018 production numbers, Freeport-McMoran also reported production numbers and Dalian iron ore rises.

Anglo American Copper Production Rises 23%

Miner Anglo American’s copper production in the final quarter of 2018 was up 23%, to 183,500 tons, from the same period in 2017.
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A stoppage at the Minas-Rio project in Brazil impacted iron ore production. The mine reopened at the end of the quarter, but production ultimately hit 200,000 metric tons, down 94% from Q4 2017.
Platinum and palladium production totals both ticked up 3% in Q4 on a year-over year basis.

Rising Revenues

In news from another miner, Freeport McMoran reported its full-year 2018 revenues hit $18.6 billion, up from $16.4 billion in 2017.
Q4 2018 revenues, however, at $3.68 billion, were down from the $5.04 billion in Q4 2017.
“As we enter 2019, our priorities are focused on achieving important milestones to ramp-up production from our large-scale underground assets in the Grasberg minerals district, continuing our focus on productivity and cost management, advancing the Lone Star project and defining future growth options from our large portfolio of reserves and resources,” President and CEO Richard C. Adkerson said. “Despite recent market uncertainty, we remain confident in the fundamentals and long-term outlook for copper and the opportunities to deliver substantial value to shareholders from our premier portfolio of geographically diverse long-lived copper assets.”

Dalian Ore Gains

Iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange made gains Thursday, Reuters reported, rising 1.6%.
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The surge comes on the heels of positive sentiment expressed by Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan during the World Economic Forum in Davos, according to the report.