Even a lifelong copper bull isn’t sure the next move will be up

As head of sales for copper-mining giant Freeport-McMoRan, Javier Targhetta overflows with arguments for why the metal’s prospects are bright.

Yet even the five-decade metals veteran and copper bull acknowledges the miserable mood seeping through the industry’s annual gathering in London this week. For now, any talk of constraints on new supply or higher consumption as the world’s cities expand is drowned out by worries about sagging demand fueled by the US-China trade war.